According to Pennsylvania’s Health Information website, targeted case management (TCM) is any “direct assistance to adult and children consumers of the behavioral health system, including problem resolution, advocacy and referral to other appropriate services.”

Are you thinking what I’m thinking?

That definition sounds very much like the definition of general case management.

Medicaid, on the other hand, uses this term in a completely different manner. In a Congressional Research Service report on the Medicaid Targeted Case Management (TCM) benefits, it is clarified thus:

Case management services assist Medicaid beneficiaries in obtaining needed medical and related services. Targeted Case Management (TCM) refers to case management for specific Medicaid beneficiary groups or for individuals who reside in state-designated geographic areas.

So essentially, at least when used by Medicaid, TCM has to do with providing case management services to specific “target” populations. When used by other organizations, however, targeted case management is often used to indicate personalized case management or just used as an alternative name for general case management services.

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