Joslyn Levy & Associates, LLC

The relatively sudden increase in demand for health professionals with care management skills has left health care practices with the challenge of identifying qualified staff while facing a lack of resources to train and equip current staff with specialized care management skills.

Care management—facilitating access, coordination, and communication for patients’ care plans— is an essential element of the patient-centered medical home model, and its integration into practice is a core strategy for primary care transformation. Because care management requires a fundamental shift in health care organization and delivery, a statewide consensus around its definitions, functions, and requirements is essential. Furthermore, sustainable implementation of care management requires that health care practices determine the most efficient way to deliver these skills. NYHealth awarded Joslyn Levy and Associates (JLA) a grant to issue a report on the emerging and evolving care management profession in New York State.

Under this grant, JLA prepared a report on care management for both practitioners and policymakers statewide. Specifically, JLA conducted research in peer-reviewed and gray literature; interviewed key informants; and synthesized the findings into a report. This report contributed to a statewide consensus around definitions, functions, and requirements of care management by informing new statewide standards; identifed funding and reimbursement mechanisms; redefined care team roles and responsibilities; and designed training initiatives to prepare new and existing health care staff members for these new roles. In addition to preparing the report, JLA monitored the project through periodic project management meetings.