Another Reality Check: Disease Management Doesn’t Work
Not if it's funded, orchestrated or organized by the payer side of the market anyway. This will be a huge disappointment to our friends at Commonwealth, the CMS, the RWJ Foundation and right-thinking people everywhere. But here it is in an article [gated, but with abstract] in Health Affairs:
Since 1999, the CMS has conducted seven DM demonstrations involving some 300,000 beneficiaries in thirty-five programs… Results from the CMS demonstrations have not shown widespread evidence of improvement in compliance with evidence-based care, satisfaction for providers or beneficiaries, or broad behavior change. Only a few programs have produced financial savings net of fees.
Have you ever stopped to consider how much of the health policy dialogue is dominated by myths?
What is it about this field that makes it so hard for people to deal with reality?
Two triple whammies in one day, John. You’ve ruined the weekend for the managed care folks. For that matter, you probably ruined the whole year for them.
I would call it more of a double whammy, Bret. Surely, they already know this stuff.
John, sorry to blow your ideology, but disease management — like health IT — has always received bipartisan support. Nancy Johnson (R-CT) was the greatest advocate of DM and sponsor of the legislation mandating this demo.
Get your facts straight.