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According to the article by Thomas Bodenheimer, M.D., "Disease Management - Promises and Pitfalls," The New England Journal of Medicine (April 15, 1999), disease management is as old as medicine itself. Bodenheimer refers to a study that observed disease management is "little more than a marketing or packaging device whereby familiar and often long-standing concepts are...offered as a complete package." Bodenheimer refers to a study that states in the "1990s, disease management is a systematic, population based approach to identify persons at risk, intervene with specific programs of care and measure clinical and other outcomes." According to the Bodenheimer's article, there are advantages and disadvantages of disease management. Disease management has great potential to improve the care of people with chronic illnesses, lower risk and less motivated patient. It can also erode the primary care base by not dealing with chronic illnesses and only focusing on highest risk with most expensive health care needs and highly motivated patients in order to make money. |
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