HCPro.com: Population Health Insider

January 2008 (Volume 14, Issue 1)	view entire issue

Looking into the DM crystal ball
Editor's note: Disease Management Advisor asked DM leaders to predict what will happen in the field this year. In this issue, we have compiled articles highlighting their predictions. A coalescing of DM, prevention, and wellness under a larger umbrella of chronic care management is a trend many in the DM field are predicting for 2008. Ariel Linden, DrPH, MS, of Linden Consulting Group in Hillsboro, OR, points to wellness as the "hottest topic" in DM and estimates that it has grown tremendously in the past couple of years.

Going mobile
Technology has changed the way Americans bank and shop, so it makes sense that healthcare would develop technology that targets chronic care. Technological advances in DM are making it possible for patients to telecommunicate with their doctors and for physicians to collect health information and change care if warranted. David Whitlinger, president and chair of the board of Continua Health Alliance in Beaverton, OR, says technological improvements are a needed change in the healthcare system.

Blue Cross/Blue Shield promotes medical home demonstrations
The concept of a medical home is taking shape in several demonstration projects that include elderly patients with multiple chronic conditions, as well as fewer sick patients who stand to gain from wellness and DM interventions that are led by the patient's physician. Some of the largest insurers in the country are leading the way in this effort. Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBS), Chicago, and 27 participating BCBS companies have joined with four major U.S. physician groups, national employers, and consumer groups to examine the medical home model of care in primary care demonstration projects around the country.

What's next for Medicare?
Even those who closely follow the latest Medicare developments are unsure what to expect this year. CMS' Medicare Health Support (MHS) projects, which take a more traditional DM approach, have not been successful, and a handful of companies involved have dropped out. Vince Kuraitis, JD, MBA, principal of Better Health Technologies in Boise, ID, is one of the leading experts on CMS, and even he acknowledges he doesn't know what its next move will be.

Pharmacy program with DM component targets CKD
The money spent to care for patients on dialysis and those with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is staggering-yet health plans are slow to tackle the issue without knowing whether DM programs are cost-effective. A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) highlighted the prevalence of CKD among adults in the United States. According to the authors, who were led by Josef Coresh, MD, PhD, of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, 13% of Americans have CKD in part because of the prevalence of diabetes and hypertension.

Program brings hypertensive patients within BP ranges
Automated telephone systems can serve as a barrier for senior citizen patients. However, a recent study focusing on hypertensive elderly patients showed that telephony backed by nurses didn't affect health results and saved money. Healthways of Nashville and Varolii Corporation of Seattle teamed up for "Use of Automated Telephony to Optimize Blood Pressure and Medication Management of Hypertensive Elderly Patients," which they presented at DMAA: The Care Continuum Alliance's Disease Management Leadership Forum in September 2007.

Other recently-published articles from Population Health Insider:

Cisco creates culture of wellness

Employers favor carrot over stick

Definition of the medical home tiers

CMS unveils two-tier medical home care management fee

Risk-adjusted model underpays, ignores functional status

Five questions about physicians’ role in CDHPs

Study: Most-integrated health plans in better shape

LifeMasters: DM’s phoenix rises from failed merger with Healthways

Most specialties see slight increase

Deliotte report trumpets possible convergence

CDHPs, wellness gain momentum

Wellness gains steam

Weight loss helps type 2 diabetes patients

Physician practices will need DM/population health

College announces chronic care degree program

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