Case Management is a term that is present in almost every American health care situation. It is mostly used to coordinate community services with satisfactory results for the patient within a certain period of time, with limited resources. Through time, it has been used for different purposes. The goal of this study was to show the historical evolution of case management as expressed by the American nursing literature, in the 80's and 90's, according to its use, meaning, and application, and following a theoretical framework for concept analysis. The data was extracted from two journals: "Nursing Management" and "Journal of Nursing Administration". The publications showed case management portrayed as a process that serves a common goal; where quality and cost of care were the prevalent and influential elements along time, and its practice focusing in a given population defined as of high risk and high cost for health care.

The study is a literature review and has the goal to present a new modality of health care delivery called case management.Authors emphasize essential aspects related to this modality of care: care methodology, history, goals, practice areas. It is considered the use of case management in the Brazilian reality. DESCRIPTORS: case management, health planning, managed care programs, delivery of health care

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The case study contributes to nursing knowledge for professionals who care for patients with PV.