Traditional business process management (BPM) works well with a defined, structured process that can be documented into rules.  This can be clearly illustrated in a production process; however, most work is does not follow a predictable path.

     Adaptive case management (ACM, also called dynamic case management) takes a different view, one in which the case rather than the process is the focus.

     Adaptive case management is better suited to tasks that do not have a particular sequence of activities or that may require ad hoc actions.  In an innovative environment most processes are neither completely structured nor completely unstructured – they are a blend of predictable and ad hoc processes.

     Adaptive case management allows for agility.  Agility in this case means the ability to respond in a nonstandard way.  Properly implemented adaptive case management empowers employees to solve problems and the outcomes are results that are appropriate for each case.

     I predict that we will be hearing more and more about adaptive case management as healthcare workers implement it into their protocols, as companies begin to adapt it to their customer care processes, and as governments use it to tackle issues of a diverse constituency.