The Disease Management Association of America has issued guidelines for measuring outcomes in disease management programs, a move aimed at helping employers determine whether such programs actually reduce the cost of caring for chronic conditions. The guidelines offer several study design tips, including use of a "pre-post" design incorporating concurrent comparison or control groups, as well as using medical and pharmacy claims cost data to calculate the financial impact of DM programs. They recommend comparing the cost of caring for chronically ill patients with similar nonchronic populations as a method for examining cost trends. The DMAA guidelines also stress that both vendors and employers agree on a risk-adjustment method, to make sure that measures aren't unduly affected by the severity of the particular patients' conditions.
Get more background on the guidelines:
- check out the DMAA press release [1]
- read this Business Insurance article [2]
- review the DMAA's evaluation guidelines summary [3] (.pdf)
Related Article:
Hospitals win with employer wellness programs. Report [4]
Links:
[1] http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/node/4405
[2] http://www.businessinsurance.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=8980
[3] http://www.dmaa.org/pdf/DMAA_guidelines_topline.pdf
[4] http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/hospitals-win-with-employer-wellness-programs/2006-11-15