Encore’s Case Management

What is Case Management?

Case management is a method of providing services where the case manager assesses the needs of the individual and identifies resources from a holistic standpoint to address these needs. Case management allows for improved access to care, improved outcomes, as well as decreased overall cost of treatment. In substance use disorder treatment, case management involves coordination of treatment, therapy, psychiatry, housing, legal, medical, and family related care to maximize support and structure for the client.

Why is Case Management Important?

There can be many facets to providing care to a client. These can include psychological, medical, social, economic, legal, and any and all aspects of a person’s well-being. Case management allows all of these potential areas of need to be centralized in one provider, the case manager, who can serve as a hub for resources and communication between the various other providers such as doctors, psychiatrists, and social workers to coordinate care effectively. Clear and consistent communication is an important part of successful coordination of care, and case management helps to ensure that these lines of communication work as they should.

Effective case management also helps ensure a client’s safety. When all involved parties of a client’s care are communicating, important changes in a client’s psychological or physical status are relayed to all stakeholders involved, this reduces the chance that something critical may be missed.

Pragmatic case management does not necessarily take treatment as the first priority but considers what the patient needs in the very moment to progress on their path into and maintaining recovery. After all, a case manager is there to help the patient through their issues and if they cannot get past the basic needs whatever that may be—career help, aid in finding a place to stay, how can they expect to focus on entering treatment?

Because case management is a means to help a patient go from point to point in the process of recovery, it stands to reason that a centralized point of contact for the patient will help keep all providers of care on the same page about the patient’s wellbeing and progress so that a concerted effort can be made to solve problems in order of importance.

Encore and Case Management

At Encore, we take a holistic approach to our clients’ care. Each client is assigned a Primary Therapist who serves as a therapist and as a case manager for the client. We work with psychiatrists, doctors, and others in the community as needed to provide our clients with all the resources and avenues for healing they need to best succeed. Our team works with outside providers as well as with each other within our team to figure out ways to best support our clients in their recovery.