Commission for Case Manager Certification Passes 30,000 Mark for Its Board-Certified Credential

The Commission for Case Manager Certification (CCMC), Mount Laurel, NJ, the first and largest nationally accredited organization that certifies case managers, recently marked a major milestone, announcing that the number of its board-certified case managers has now passed the 30,000 mark.

"Health care delivery today is often fragmented and uncoordinated, which can accelerate cost and lead to poor health outcomes," said CCMC Chair Annette C. Watson, RN-BC, CCM, MBA. "Care coordination and effectively managing care transitions are just two of the functions of case management that are now widely touted as a means to de-fragment the system of care delivery and provide safer, better care across the continuum."

The December 2010 examination period brought the total number of Certified Case Manager credential holders to 30,144. CCMC established the standard for case management credentialing in 1992 with its rigorous examination, which is continuously validated through evidence-based research.

Case management is a collaborative process that assesses, plans, implements, coordinates, monitors, and evaluates the options and services required to meet the client’s health and human service needs.

CCMC is a nonprofit, volunteer organization overseeing the process of case manager certification across multiple clinical disciplines—trained case managers who come from backgrounds as social workers, registered nurses, and professionals in workers compensation and vocational rehabilitation are all eligible to apply for the certification.

Board certification of case managers is gaining increasing importance as health care delivery systems push to meet greater expectations for care delivery, patient safety, and improved patient outcomes. CCMC’s 2009 Role & Functions Survey of nearly 7,000 case managers found that a growing number of employers require case management certification (36%, compared to 26% in 2004), and more employers offer additional compensation for certification (27% in 2009 compared to 20% in 2004).

[Source: CCMC]