How to Maximize the Benefit of Your CoCM Psychiatric Case Consultation
The psychiatric case consultation is a unique CoCM component that makes collaborative care work. The better you understand it, the more you can get out of it.
Psychiatric case consultation, also called “systematic caseload review,” is an essential and required part of CoCM. These meetings, conducted weekly, are designed to survey the CoCM caseload and review patients that are not progressing.
With a team-based approach, the consultation consolidates clinical history, assessment results, and treatment plans in a way that is both dynamic and collaborative. By reviewing cases as efficiently as possible, the CoCM team maximizes potential impact across your entire patient population.
With a little bit of preparation and an understanding of what to expect, you can ensure these meetings are as effective and productive as possible.
Before the Consultation:
Consider the answers you need the most.
Your care manager is responsible for the overall agenda and progress of the meeting. They have responsibility for the full caseload and ensuring the team doesn’t miss anything critical. That said, it is a collaborative process. You can make sure you get the answers you need by spending a few minutes ahead of the meeting:
Identify which patients you want to discuss and let your care manager know
Think about the specific concerns and/or questions you have about these patients
Consider areas where the psychiatric consultant may be especially helpful, such as: Medication management, including titration and medication transition planning, diagnostic recommendation, adjusting treatment plans, early identification of risk factors, identification of comorbid disorders, and post-hospitalization support
The clearer you can be about what questions you have and what answers you need, the better.
During the Consultation:
Have a clear understanding around meeting expectations to help the team give the right amount of attention to the right patients.
Only cases enrolled in CoCM can be discussed
In a 1-hour meeting, the CoCM team will typically aim to review 8-10 patients (which typically works out to ~5-6 min per patient)
While consultations on some individuals may be longer than others, do not expect a lengthy conversation around each patient
And most of all: Each member of the CoCM team brings a unique perspective on the case at hand. As the primary provider, you can help set a collaborative tone for the team by ensuring all members are heard and given an equal voice.
