Chronic Illness: A Case Study

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Introduction
According to estimates, approximately 141 million people in the United States suffer from one or more chronic illness.1 This estimate is projected to significantly increase over the next decade; almost every other American may be living with one or more chronic condition.2 The trend in per capita spending portrays a very similar pattern. Chronic illnesses constitute 75% of total health care expenditures annually; spending is projected to triple from $ 273 to $818 billion by 2030 for cardiovascular diseases, for example.3 High expenditures associated with chronic illnesses are driven primarily by high hospital admission rates (including readmissions) and emergency care use.4 It is not surprising to learn that chronic illnesses contribute significantly to the leading causes of premature death in the United States with cardiovascular diseases leading the list (Figure 1).
The health care industry as well as policy makers is hastening to find ways to curtail rising health care costs and reduce lives lost amidst limited health care budgetary concerns.5 Disease management programs have been widely endorsed by both the private and government health sector as a potential solution for addressing growing healthcare costs and improving quality of medical care.1,6
Designed using elements from the chronic …show more content…

In light of the ambiguous findings, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid funded the first major Medicare study aimed to examine the effectiveness of disease management programs on coordination of care.4 Different from many other small observational or cohort studies, this was a large randomized control trial that involved randomizing eligible fee-for-service Medicare patients suffering from congestive heart failure, coronary heart disease and diabetes into the intervention (nurse led patient education and monitoring via telephone) or usual care.4 Claims data were analyzed for changes in hospitalizations and Medicare expenditures including other

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