A case manager is there to guide you and your family through the strange and unfamiliar world you find yourself in following a life changing injury. However, to access this support you need to choose a case management company – most probably from a recommendation or list your lawyer has given you or typing ‘case management companies’ into a Google search.
Unless you or someone you know has been involved in an accident before, you might not even know what a case manager is. That’s not unusual. When many of our clients come to us, they often don’t know that our job exists.
Read our blog: What is a case manager and what do they do?
A good case manager always has your best interests at heart and will make a huge difference to you and your family. That’s why it’s worth taking the time to research and explore your options.
To support you in your search for a case management company, here are 6 key things to look out for:
You ideally want a case management company, and where possible an individual case manager, with experience relevant to your personal situation. This might be generalist expertise in personal injury. Or a specialism such as brain injury, spinal injury, amputee, major trauma and catastrophic, life changing and life limiting injury (either adult or child).
For example, at Breakthrough our specialist case managers have specific areas of interest and expertise. They are matched with clients according to their skills, experience and clinical background.
Meet our case management team and find a case manager
It’s not just experience of your individual situation that’s important, a good case manager will also have the knowledge and skills needed to get the right people on your team. This means you will have access to the best possible practitioners relevant to you, for example expert physiotherapists or occupational therapists who understand your personal injury and unique needs.
Research shows that getting the correct support as quickly as possible following a traumatic injury can make an enormous difference to outcomes. At Breakthrough, our case managers are all experienced professionals from a variety of clinical disciplines. They know how to navigate the system to shape and coordinate the best possible rehabilitation, care and therapy package for you. So you get the support you need, when you need it.
A case manager is there to provide reassurance, support and guidance for your whole family. They should be accessible and available when you need them. Because life continues outside office hours, case management isn’t always a 9-5 job. Your Breakthrough case manager will always endeavour to respond in an emergency. At Breakthrough, we pride ourselves on our responsive and flexible approach
Communication is vital in the weeks and months following a life changing injury. Clear communication will have a positive impact on your outcomes – both physical and financial.
Trust is crucial between a case manager and a client, and trust is impossible without honesty. At Breakthrough we pride ourselves on getting straight to the point, and always being open and honest with our clients. We keep things straightforward and simple, avoiding jargon and complex terminology while respecting your needs and individual situation.
Perhaps most importantly, we listen to our clients and their families. What’s important to you is important to us. We’re not here to tell you what to do – we’re here to find out what you want and need, and to help make it happen. Fighting your corner when you might not be able to do so yourself.
A truly excellent case manager won’t accept the status quo. They will always proactively look for new innovations and ideas that will improve your quality of life and rehabilitation journey. For example, this could include sourcing new state of the art prosthetics or robotic exoskeletons for individuals who have experienced limb loss or spinal cord injury.
The Breakthrough Case Management team supports clients to access ground-breaking treatments. We don’t stop until we have done our very best to explore all the potential services, therapies, treatments and surgeries that might maximise your quality of life.
As well as experience in a relevant discipline, formal qualifications also make a difference to client outcomes and the quality of support a case manager delivers. Our case management team includes physiotherapists, neuro-physiotherapists, general nurses, specialist nurses, paediatric nurses and occupational therapists.
All our case managers are registered and hold membership of relevant professional bodies, for example the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). Each case manager adheres to respective codes of conduct and maintains their registration accordingly.
At the point in time when a case management company is selected, many of our clients are experiencing new challenges. Our team of case managers enable that ‘breakthrough’ moment when individuals and their families can look forward again, with positivity and optimism. That’s the difference a good case management company makes, and why it’s important to make the right choice.
Find out more about what we do at Breakthrough Case Management.
If you have any questions, please contact us for a confidential conversation.
