By Gary Wolfe, RN, CCM, FCM
At the Annual CMSA Conference the CMSA Fellows Class of 2026 was introduced. The Fellow Program was introduced in 2021 to recognize distinguished individual case managers who have made a significant contribution and impact to the professional practice of case management through practice, leadership, education, and scholarship. Each year the Fellow Selectin Committee reviews applications which have been submitted by the case manager applicant and evaluated against the selection criteria. The application process is rigorous because we are looking for exceptional case managers who not only do a good job, but who lead, innovate, educate, and mentor. To date there are thirty-five Fellows which includes the eight founding Fellows. These individuals have helped to define the professional practice of case management and continue to do so. In this Blog, I will introduce the four new Fellows who make up the Fellow Class of 2026.
Carol Garner, RN, CCMSA, FCM, our first international Fellow, is from South Africa. Carol is the Director of Case Management for Global Case Management Solutions South Africa. She manages a staff of 25 case managers responsible for in hospital patient visits, claims assessment/payment processing, developing training programs, data collection and analysis and identifying high-cost cases. Carol is a recognized case management leader. She introduced case management practice and standards of practice in South Africa. Carol organized the first national case management conference in South Africa. She was asked to advise the public sector leaders on implementing case management in state hospitals. She consults throughout the African region on case management helping other countries, organizations, and hospitals define case management, establish policies and procedures with standards of practice. Carol participates in CMSA through the International Special Interest Group and is very active in case management organizations in South Africa and the African region.
Jayme Ambrose, DNP, RN, CCM, FCM is the CEO/Founder of Adobe Population Health in Phoenix, Arizona. Jayme started with worker’s compensation case management and created a wholistic case management model. She combined her experience of being a psychiatric nurse with the principles of case management. She developed employee/employer training programs that saw work comp litigation drop by 99% in one year. She developed a discharge program targeting high ED and hospitalization utilizers in an effort to reduce readmissions which is still being used today. Jayme developed the Adobe Model of Care, a model which demonstrates that improving quality of life can reduce health care costs. The model of care focuses on utilizing data to identify the at-risk population based on geography, ER and hospital utilizations, physician interactions, age and gender. The model incorporates an integrated team of nurses, social workers, providers, and community health workers to resolve risks and limit barriers to care and quality of life. This model is being utilized in eleven states and is NCQA and URAC accredited. Jayme is active in CMSA having served on the Arizona CMSA Board in several offices including President, Rural Special Interest Group and the Affiliate Committee. She is adjunct faculty with Arizona State University and worked to develop curriculum for a care coordination certificate program.
Paul Borja, DNP, DHA, DBA, EdD, PhD, RN, CCM, ACM-RN, CMAC, CMGT-0BC, CMCN, CNML, CDONA, FACDONA, FAACM, FADLN, FCM is the Director of Care Management at Sutter Medical Center in Sacramento, CA. Paul has demonstrated a consistent commitment to advancing the practice of case management through performance improvement, operational excellence and patient-centered outcomes. He is dedicated to optimizing care coordination, enhancing regulatory compliance, and promoting quality and efficiency across the continuum of care. He has developed programs that decreased length of stay surpassing the organizational target. He has led initiatives that improved Initial Assessment Completion which strengthened early discharge planning. Paul has chaired Committees on Standardization, Quality, Safety, and Patient Experience ensuring consistency and excellence in care coordination. Paul is active in CMSA having served in the following positions: National Secretary, Sacramento Chapter President and Board member, Board Liaison for CMSA Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Committee, and on the Editorial Board of CMSA Today. He has been an Item Writer and Reviewer for The Commission.
Tiffany Ferguson, LMSW, CMAC, ACM, FCM, is the CEO of Phoenix Medical Management, a case management consulting firm in Flagstaff, Arizona. Her contributions have been grounded in a deep commitment to the service of others, beginning with her direct work alongside patients and families. Her focus is consistent: advancing case management in ways that honor dignity, supporting patients, and supporting case management professionals so they can improve their own communities. Tiffany has designed care management models across the continuum, integrating inpatient, outpatient, population health, utilization review and denial management under unified governance. These models were designed to reduce fragmentation, clarify professional roles and foster meaningful collaboration among the health care team. These models elevated case management as a strategic driver of quality, equity, and organizational performance. She has designed models which bridged silos between case management, utilization review, clinical documentation integrity, and physician adviser programs and has advanced interdisciplinary collaboration rooted in shared accountability, ethical decision-making, and patient-centered care. Tifany is active in CMSA serving on the CMSA Today Editorial Board, Organizational Partnership Committee, Process Improvement Committee, and CareManagement Editorial Board. She also is a Board Member of the American College of Physician Advisors – Observation Committee and the Editorial Board of RACmonitor.
All of these Fellows have publications they have written, speak at conferences, and are mentors. They all come with a passion for case management. This information I have presented is but a snippet of the significant contributions they have made to the professional practice of case management. Please join me in saluting and honoring these individuals as they continue to make significant contributions to the professional practice of case management.
Note: It is not too early to start thinking about applying for the Fellows Class of 2027.The application process will open in October and close in January. https://cmsa.org/about/fellow/
Bio: Gary Wolfe, RN, CCM, FCM, is Chair of the CMSA Fellow Selection Committee, Editor-in-Chief of CareManagement, and a past National CMSA President.