Kathleen Lambert shares the outcome of a lawsuit. Our readers by this review can benefit from appropriate actions taken and what led to trouble in this lawsuit. With this new knowledge, our readers can apply these shared lessons from this lawsuit to their own practice. Lambert provides a checklist from this lawsuit to benefit the case manager. She also reminds the case manager in the field if a small voice in your mind is saying, "This isn't right. I don't like this situation." Listen!! Learning from the unfortunate situations of others will help the reader practice with more care and understanding of their important role as a case manager in the lives of their patients.

Daniel Kelley takes us on a tour of behavioral medicine and its value to workers' compensation. In the past, physicians and case managers focused on diagnosis, medical test results, and standard medical treatment protocols. Behavioral medicine opened up additional understanding of the patient, a holistic understanding of the patient. Returning the patient back to work as a primary goal, behavioral medicine identifies and promotes psychosocial strengths, while reducing the impact of negative psychosocial variables to facilitate recovery and return to work. The final value of behavioral medicine is that it completes the comprehensive picture of the patient's disability as well as significant psychosocial variables affecting recovery and return to work.

Judy Quan challenges the readers to identify their individual case management style. She guides the readers through the effect each style will have on outcomes. Finally, she documents how planned actions achieve the best results for each patient. But she warns it all starts with style.

Marcy Tigerman takes us through the thought process that each of us, case managers, must go through in the workers' compensation system to deliver reasonable care to our patients. Marcy Tigerman labels this process as the "Ethical Dilemma."

Frances Snowden, BS, RN, CRRN, CCM

Contributing Editor