The subject I chose to follow was the social worker, who I will refer to as John, from the hospital since they use a variety of techniques to collect information from patients and redistribute it back to them. The social work job entails coordinating patient discharges as well as patient/family interaction.
             As John spoke with the patient, he wrote pertinent information down, such as location, kind of atmosphere, payor source, activities she enjoyed, one that was near her daughter, a private room and one that would be Catholic or religious based. This discussion/interview resulted in a conversation that lasted about 15 minutes. When he felt he had collected enough information, he went to his office and began a search for possible facilities that the patient might like to live or stay (Swain).
             The patient needed to reside in an extended care facility (nursing home) out of state. The social worker also had to consider a variety of things that the patient wanted in this facility. Since the social worker was not familiar with any of the ECFs in that state he had to find a variety of facilities that would meet their needs.
             John first consulted (finding information) the CMSA Case Managers' Resource Guide for a listing of appropriate facilities in that area (Zick). This is the most comprehensive list of facilities other than their internet listing. Our social workers do not have internet access, so they rely heavily on this resource. It is their primary means of locating an appropriate facility.
             Phone calls were made to each facility to gather more specific information. During the conversation John determined that several of the facilities did not meet the criteria that the patient wanted. He asked questions like "What types of scheduled activities do you plan for your residents?" and "Where exactly are you located?". Since he was unfamiliar with the area the patient was looking at, he would ask them for a recomme...