A more attractive, user-friendly, and in-depth Case Management Society of America website has been introduced by the organization in April 2003. Located at www.cmsa.org , CMSA's site is now more dynamic and easier to navigate and offers increased and more in-depth content. Interactive processes, including joining, renewing, subscribing, and product-ordering have also been simplified to make CMSA's website easier for visitors to use than the former design.

"Due to ever-increasing content and a substantial increase in traffic over the past year, CMSA redesigned the site and made the decision to have the roll-out prior to the annual Conference & Expo in San Antonio June 24-28," said Jeanne Boling, MSN, CRRN, CDMS, CCM, Executive Director of CMSA.

"For January 2003 alone, traffic grew more than 300 percent over the same time last year," Boling explained. "We've enjoyed a year of steady growth with significant increases from November 2002 through January 2003. We had over 688,000 website visits in November of last year and those grew to more than 861,000 in January of 2003. That's a remarkable increase, and we expect the numbers to continue to increase as word gets out about the new design."

In the last few years, CMSA recognized that the Internet is becoming an essential part of case manager practice. With that realization, the organization took on the responsibility of providing a site for its 7,000-plus members that offered the most up-to-date content in an easy-to-navigate format.

"We wanted to design a website that made vital information available to all case managers regardless of their computer savvy," Boling stated, "but data serves no purpose if a user can't find it or gives up if it's too difficult to access or buried too deep. That's why we knew we had to simplify things as the technology became available. We've also made the interactive procedures simpler.
We listened to the ideas of our members and to those of our creative technology consultants, and we're thrilled with the results. We've added more items of interest to our members, like our new National/Chapter Calendar of Events and our enhanced Job Site. With a new and improved website design, we're looking forward to even more usage by our members and other visitors in the future."

Among CMSA's website offerings is information about Local Chapters; National Membership Directory; CMSA's Annual Conference; CMSA's Institute for Learning (the 17 hour CE Distant Learning Course); WebED (an online educational resource); Special Interest Group (SIG) and Public Access Forums; Professional Development, including Certification and Accreditation Requirements; Employment Ads; Online Resources, including CMSA's Resource Paths™; Publications, including online versions of The Case Manager, ADVANCE for Providers of Acute Care, and Managed Care Interface; Insurance Programs; Products and Resources; and links to the latest Case Management News. Both members and non-members can access the site. Members, of course, have access to 100 percent of the site, and non-members have limited access.

"As CMSA's Statement of Commitment says," Boling concluded, "we want to continue to provide the finest and most comprehensive case management resources to case managers and allied health professionals. And we feel that by providing a dynamic website with up-to-the-minute case management information offered through up-to-the-minute technology is definitely a giant step toward helping us meet that obligation to our members."

For more information, please contact Tena Bolin at tbolin@acminet.com or at 501-225-2229 ext. 43. Visit CMSA's newly redesigned website at www.cmsa.org for more information.
###