Welcome to Across My Desk! I chose this name for the weekly blog because I wanted to share with you the news, trends, issues, and questions that cross my desk each week. As busy healthcare professionals, we often find that what gets pushed aside is taking the time to read newspapers and professional journals, participate in professional listservs, and investigate websites that are relevant to our practice. The goal of Across My Desk is to provide you with short summaries of the hot topics and clinical issues that impact our practice and are important for you to know. Across My Desk is brought to you from Dorland Healthcare Information, the publisher of Case In Point Magazine, the Case Management Resource Guide, and myCMRG.com. Across My Desk is provided to you at no cost so that you can keep current with the rapid changes in today’s healthcare environment.

Although Across My Desk is complimentary, you do have a role in this process. It is to take the time to read the information each week and provide input to me on the topics so that I know I am meeting your needs. Answers to the questions, reactions to posts and constructive comments received will be posted for all to read. In addition, I will share your comments and questions with the Case in Point Magazine Editorial Board for consideration for more in-depth feature articles because they are issues important to YOU.

I hope you find the information from Across My Desk informative and relevant to your practice. Make sure you check out the Case Management Resource Guide Online and once on the site, register for myCMRG.com so that you can build essential resources that you need to better care for your patients!

Anne Llewellyn, RN.C, BHSA, CCM, CRRN
Editor-in-Chief, Across My Desk, Case In Point Magazine, and the Case Management Resource Guide.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Philadelphia, PA - 05/19/2006

Leader in Case Management Joins Dorland Healthcare Information

Dorland Healthcare Information is pleased to announce that Anne Llewellyn, RN.C, BHSA, CCM, CRRN has joined the Company as the Editor-in-Chief of all its case management products: the Case Management Resource Guide, Case in Point and CMRG.com. “Anne’s passion for case management fits extremely well with Dorland Healthcare Information’s goals for our case management products. I believe that this combination will ensure that all of our products focused on case managers will meet their professional needs and that we can continue to provide case managers access to the tools they need to empower them to provide safe, quality, cost-effective health care at the right time and in the most appropriate setting possible,” said Robert A. Graham, President and CEO.

According to Llewellyn, the question that continues to be asked by those outside the case management industry is: What is it that case managers do? Says Llewellyn, “As a case management professional who has been active in the field, it concerns me that this question is still being asked. Today, we have Standards of Practice, a Code of Professional Conduct and national certifications that provide research-based information on the role and function of the practice of case management. So why is the question still being asked? My role as Editor-in-Chief of Case in Point, the Case Management Resource Guide and CMRG.com will be to put this question to rest by providing a clear answer to this question with life examples so all have an understanding of the role and function of today’s case manager. In addition, I hope to empower and motivate case management professionals to take an active role in their communities to share the successful outcomes of the care they provide for the patients and families they serve.”

Llewellyn has been a leader in the field of healthcare as a critical care nurse, catastrophic case manager and educator since 1978. Ms. Llewellyn earned her Nursing Degree from Hahnemann University, Philadelphia, PA and her Bachelors Degree in Health Care Administration from Barry University, Miami, FL in 1995. Llewellyn will complete her Masters Degree Training and Development from St. Francis University, Joliet IL in the 2006 summer term. Llewellyn holds national credentials as a Certified Registered Nurse from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), a Certified Case Manager through the Commission for Case Management Certification (CCMC) and a Certified Rehabilitation Registered Nurse (CRRN) through the American Rehabilitation Nurses (ARN). Llewellyn is co-author, Case Manager Review and Resource Manual: The Essence of Case Management published in 2001 and updated in 2005 by the Institute for Research, Education and Consultation (IREC) and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Ms. Llewellyn has written and lectured nationally on topics related to patient safety, quality of care, and case management. Llewellyn is Past President of the Case Management Society of America (CMSA) and continues to be an active member of the local chapter, the South Florida Case Management Chapter. She is also a member of the American Nurses Association and the Emergency Nurse Association. Llewellyn was a founding member of The Center for Practical Health Reform. In addition to these professional organizations, Llewellyn is a member of Quota International of Plantation, an International Organization dedicated to providing service to the deaf and disadvantaged women and children.

Dorland Healthcare Information (DHI), based in Philadelphia, is a nationally recognized publisher known as the leader in health and managed care business information for the past 50 years. DHI publishes a variety of industry print and online reference books, such as the Case Management Resource Guide, Dorland’s Medical Directory, the Directory of Physician Groups and Networks, the Medical Healthcare Marketplace Guide, and Dorland’s Healthcare Website Guide. Dorland Healthcare Information also publishes several healthcare magazines – Case In Point for medical professionals in case management, and the Good Neighbor Health Guide for consumers.

For more information, please contact:
Robin Jay
215.300.1103
rjay@dorlandhealth.com