Admission procedure

Your organization will have a procedure, and, most likely a uniform way of documenting it (e.g. a form).

In many cases, you will interview the new client to put them at ease, find out what they think they need, get a useful history, and appraise their needs. In other cases, someone else might do the admission interview and forward all relevant information to you.

You will need to get some kind of privacy disclosure statement signed, so that everybody on the same case can get the information they need.

If you are also the admitting officer you will need to notice if the case is an emergency and act immediately (e.g. circumstances that could result in serious injury or loss of life). However, as a case manager, you probably won't have to handle admission emergencies because case management is a relatively long-term strategy.

In some organizations, not all clients need a case manager; for example, many new hospital patients follow a relatively simple procedure, and won't need a case manager. In these kinds of organizations, it's your job to screen new clients to find those with longer term or complex needs that require case management.

It is quite likely that you will notice signs of problems that are outside your expertise, and even outside the expertise of your organization. (See Responding holistically.)

TASK

Draw a flow-chart diagram of the admission and assessment procedure in your organization.