Twenty-Five Years (Plus!) and an Impact Factor.

Professional Case Management Journal: has been published for more than 25 years. In those years, important content has helped build the foundation of case management itself. Through the years, the articles in this journal have been cited in other articles-and in other journals globally. Now this journal has been bestowed with an "impact factor."

The Loneliness Epidemic.

According to the U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community, social disconnection is being called a critical public health issue. The epidemic of loneliness is widespread and may have profound consequences for our individual and collective health and well-being. And the "costs" of loneliness are real.

Caring for Caregivers: National Case Management Week: October 13-10, 2024.

The population of individuals over the age of 60 is expected to double by 2050, resulting in nearly 2.1 billion people. Statistics show that unpaid family caregiving is on the rise and will likely go higher. A look at caregiver statistics is revealing. There are ways that institutions and case managers can support this growing population.

Advanced Hospital Healthcare at Home-How Is It Going?

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) Acute Hospital Care at Home (AHCAH) waiver, which launched in November 2020, has prompted hundreds of hospitals across the country to initiate programs that allow certain patients to complete their acute care stays in the familiar comfort of their homes. But this waiver is about to expire in December 2024. It is a success; but can we continue it?

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA): What Case Managers Should Monitor.

Although this Editorial discusses the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), it will focus on the health provisions only. Many issues can change between the writing of this Editorial and its publication, but here are some nuances of the law that case managers should watch.

To All the Physicians Advisors.

Over the years, the physician advisor has become a regulatory and revenue integrity force. This Editorial discusses the evolution and roles of the physician advisor and how case managers can work more effectively with them.

AI and Case Management: From Artificial Intelligence to Generative Intelligence.

Conversations about artificial intelligence (AI) are impossible to escape since the inception of ChatGPT in November 2022-whether it is about the end of our jobs or the end of the world! This Editorial talks about AI and its subsets and how this may relate to health care.

A Tiny Historical Slice of Case Management.

National Case Management Week in 2023 is October 8-14. This celebration of case managers has been going on since 1999 after the Individual Case Management Association (ICMA) and the Case Management Society of America (CMSA) merged. Since the 1990s, case management has evolved significantly; this evolution impacts every case manager, on every case by case, year by year.

Advanced Hospital Health Care at Home.

It is estimated that currently about 10,000 people turn 65 years old every day. Even without pandemics, the chronic diseases of this aging population beg for new, innovative interventions. One trend that may be a significant offshoot of the 2020 focus on internet health care is hospital health care in the home.

Health Care at Home: The Backstory.

There is a growing trend to care for patients in their home: Families and patients want it, full hospitals demand it, and insurance companies will benefit from it. However, despite all the "positives," there are real threats and dangers to this growth. A lot depends on upcoming choices health care workers make in the coming years.

The Science of Gratitude.

"Gratitude" is more than a buzzword and may be more important than we realize. The science of gratitude is worth delving into, as science is beginning to show the following: the symptoms of the grateful person versus the stressed person with headaches, sleeplessness, compassion fatigue, and digestive issues can be likened to the sympathetic nervous system (the fight or flight response) versus the parasympathetic nervous system (the part of the nervous system that allows our body to "rest and digest")-the grateful person.

Quiet Eye: Another Technique for Your Toolbox.

"Quiet Eye" is a technique that has been studied in sports, law enforcement, military, and medical settings; it refers to the amount of time one spends concentrating on a specific "next step" before initiating movement. Noted to reduce anxiety, and even have a sense of slowing things down a bit, this can be used in any situation from before walking into a difficult family's room to presenting a bid to leadership for more case managers in your department.

End-of-Life Doulas.

Death doulas are people who help people at the end of life with dying, just like birth doulas help at the beginning of life. Views of traditions surrounding death, such as funerals and other ways to memorialize loved ones, are shifting. Death doula associations are seeing an increased interest from people who are seeking death doulas and those who wish to become death doulas.

Forgetting: The New Normal.

Recently, research is exploring the value of forgetting. As opposed to pathological forgetting, such as in Alzheimer's disease, normal forgetting may help reduce unneeded pieces of information so we can retain the most relevant information for long-term storage. In fact, the brain has molecular "nano-machines" within the neurons for both remembering and forgetting.

Workplace Violence and Bullying: You Can Survive.

One of biggest challenges facing the health care industry today is workplace violence and bullying. Sadly, this trend has increased so dramatically that The Joint Commission is tracking these trends and has instituted new requirements in 2022. This Editorial describes the trend and suggests methods to mitigate the situation.

The Pandemic's Secondary Statistics.

Although accurate secondary statistics may never be known, the COVID-19 pandemic has certainly been a major contributor to several health care issues: social isolation/loneliness, behavioral sequelae (anxiety, drug overdoses, and suicide), delays in treating preventive care that lead to late-stage diagnoses, and even a resurgence of drug-resistant infections.

Celebrations of Life-Why Wait?

This past 2 years has been one of many passages. The Celebration of Life is an opportunity for family and friends to pay tribute to a loved one in a personal and unique way. This Editorial proposes that the timing of this event may be celebrated during the life, if the circumstances and wishes are assessed.

A Case Manager's Resilient Reality.

Case managers are a ubiquitous group of professionals whom others rely upon when times are difficult. October 10-16, 2021, is National Case Management Week. Although 2020 tested us to the core, we can celebrate our week with pride and satisfaction.

Case Management in a Time of Uncertainties.

The year 2020 was a time of uncertainties and unpredictability. In this issue of Professional Case Management Journal, 2 articles discuss the issues of prolonged grief, complicated grief, and self-care.

COVID-19 Time Capsule 2: DATE: July 23, 2020.

This Editorial is the second of COVID-19 Time Capsule. The first was dated on March 15, 2020. Time Capsule 2 is for July 23, 2020, but will publish in January/February 2021. Consider them "historical" documents-snapshots in time.