“Case management?” you may ask. “Isn’t that a niche term for specific industries?”
A common misconception exists that case management only has a play in certain industries like social services, where it undeniably has long-time roots. However, over the past few years, case management software capabilities have provided value for a range of solutions across every industry and many types of work.
Let’s take a look at how the principles above connect seemingly unrelated processes, making them excellent candidates for a case management solution.
Contract management
All organizations have a need to store and manage contracts, amendments, key third-party information and other supporting content that defines relationships and obligations. Once approved and executed, contracts come up for review and renewal at specific time periods, requiring attorneys or contract administrators to update information and decide whether to renew, renegotiate or terminate agreements.
Audits can happen at any time, so organizations must always be prepared to provide timely access to contract information, documentation and a history of interactions.
Fraud investigation
When a suspicious transaction or some other event triggers the start of an investigation, investigators need to gather and organize all information and supporting content related to that target (client, organization, etc.). Next, they analyze and evaluate the evidence to make an effective decision: whether this is indeed a fraudulent transaction or just a false alarm.
Audits can happen at any time, so organizations must always be prepared to quickly show documented proof of all steps taken during an investigation to avoid fines and penalties.
Claims processing
When a customer makes a claim on a policy, the claims adjuster must review and assess the claim, gathering all related information – from underwriting decisions to claim history. The adjuster assesses all information – including first notice of loss documents, medical bills and correspondence – in order to make a decision on approving the claim.
Once again, audits can happen at any time, so insurance organizations must be prepared to show an audit trail and evidence that supports the adjusters’ decision process.
Medical credentialing
For each clinician a hospital or healthcare organization employs, it needs to collect, organize and store background information and all appropriate accreditations, certifications and licenses, as well as other details such as degree and continuing education information. That’s a lot of information. And these credentials must be assessed, updated and evaluated on a regular basis by credentialing specialists to identify any deficiencies.
As you guessed, audits can happen at any time, so all credentialing information and supporting documentation must be current and immediately accessible to avoid penalties.
In addition to sharing common requirements, these processes also share a legacy of ineffective handling via tools like Excel spreadsheets, email inboxes, disorganized network shares, paper files and antiquated Access and Lotus Notes databases.