skip navigation

Chronic Illness Management

Study Examples | Key Publications | Intro

What do diabetes, back pain, depression, and heart disease have in common? They’re among a host of chronic health problems and disabilities that have traditionally received too little attention from health care systems—until serious complications develop. That’s because modern medicine tends to focus on detecting and treating acute problems, leaving fewer resources for the needs of chronically ill patients, which may be less urgent but are equally important.

Our population is aging rapidly, and people with chronic conditions are living longer. Chronic conditions now affect nearly 100 million Americans, of whom 41 million have their daily activities limited in some way because of their condition;, aboutand 12 million cannot live independently. Society’s need for better chronic care is growing, and many managed care and integrated delivery systems are trying to correct the many deficiencies in current management of chronic diseases.

"Meeting the complex needs of patients with chronic illness or impairment is the single greatest challenge facing organized medical practice," says Ed ward H. Wagner, MD, MPH, senior investigator at Group Health Center for Health Studies (CHS) and director of the MacColl Institute for Healthcare Innovation.

Fortunately, Group Health is leading the way in developing, implementing, and promoting better models of care for chronic illness. Group Health’s defined population, computerized databases, and integrated delivery system make it a great place to experiment with new approaches. In fact, projects now underway at the CHS hold tremendous promise for discovering and disseminating knowledge about health care services for chronic illness.

Study Examples | Key Publications | Intro

Top