Know How – Estimates in Case Manager

In Case Manager, an Estimate tracks your spending as you provide the services that you and the payer have agreed on. Estimates can manage single services, fixed quote services and comprehensive return-to-work plans with itemised objectives. They are used to assist you to comply with your service-level agreements by managing the type, date and amounts of costs that can be added to a case and invoiced.

For example, you have 4 hours approved for a Worksite Assessment.

• 3 hours to arrange the assessment, complete the assessment and write the report
• 1 hour for travel

The estimate would look like this:

The Estimate shows the total amount approved as well as a breakdown of how much is left. As you provide services and add costs to the case, the Duration Left, Quantity Left and Amount Left decrease and you can see at any time how much of the approved funds remain.

In this example,
The Goal, WorkSite Assessment is the overall aim of the Estimate and the name of the Estimate. You can add Estimate Goals at Lists > Other Lists, List Type – Estimate Goal.
The Estimate Costs, WorkSite Assessment and Travel are taken from the Activities List. You can add Activities at Lists > Activities. Note, Estimate Costs can also be created from charge codes.

For Example, you have 21 hours approved for a Return to Work, Same Employer.

• 4 hours for Initial and Worksite Assessment
• 1 hour for the development of the Return to Work Plan
• 8 hours for Monitoring the Return to Work Plan
• 4 hours for Travel 
• 4 hours for Reports

In this example,

the Goal is ‘Return to work on full duties’ there are also Objectives, Develop Return to Work Plan and Monitor Return to Work Plan. Objectives provide a framework to organise groups of Estimate Costs or to track progress towards achieving the Goal and the Costs are listed under the Objectives

FAQ

• Estimates can have start and end dates to ensure you only add costs during the time you are approved to provide services.
• Estimate Settings are managed at the Category level under Lists > Other Lists > Category.
  • Under the tab, Estimate, you can choose whether Estimate costs are created from Activities or Charge Codes. 
  • Under the tab, Costs, you can choose what costs can be added to the case. For Example, only add costs included in the Estimate.  
• You can see in your Case List the Amount Left on an Estimate at a glance once you’ve added the column, Amt Left.
• Once you have created an estimate, this can be saved as a Template. You can do this in this Estimate tab and select ‘New estimate – Convert Current Estimate to Template’. 
•  Updating the Activity List or Charge Code List will not automatically update the Estimates as the information in the Estimates may be historical or need to be preserved.
• If you want to apply a rate rise to Activities in existing Estimates, you can use the Estimate Rate Adjuster utility found under Tools > Estimate Rate Adjuster.

To read more about using Estimates and their configuration in Case Manager please click here.