The population suffering from chronic health conditions is substantial and growing. This trend is increasingly affecting the quality of life and productivity of individuals with poor health and taking a toll on the economy due to the resultant increases...

To ameliorate the healthcare costs and disease burden that result from smoking, employers are increasingly seeking smoking cessation programs to reduce risk among the employee population. This study of QuitNet Comprehensive, a multi media smoking cessation program, found that...

To determine whether members with two years of experience in the myhealthIQSM program have continued improvement or sustained improvement in health risk levels, biometric data was collected from 4,353 individuals who completed three consecutive annual screenings of 13 different...

Healthways provides a biometric screening program that provides an accurate assessment of individual health risk based on biometric measurements from a blood screen and brief physical examination...

This study aims to evaluate whether a quality improvement initiative in hyperglycemia management could result in substantiated practice changes and improved outcomes for coronary artery bypass surgery patients...

Compliance with hemoglobin A1c (A1c) testing is suboptimal despite the clear national recommendations and guidelines established for care of patients with diabetes...

Poor lipid control is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes complications. Frequently, however, patients with these diseases do not achieve blood lipid levels recommended by current standards of care...

Diabetes disease management (DM) programs strive to promote healthy behaviors, including obtaining hemoglobin A1c (A1c) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) tests as part of standards of care...

Disease management (DM) comprises a heterogeneous group of patient-support and educational services that can enhance clinical control and increase quality of life for people living with a variety of diseases...

In addition to race and ethnicity, specific geographic regions are associated with poorer outcomes of care. Individuals with diabetes experiencing health disparities typically have worse long-term outcomes, such as increased diabetes complications and mortality...

The purpose of this study was to determine the associations between depression and the likelihood of enrollment in a health plan–sponsored physical activity program and pattern of program participation over 2 years; a secondary aim was to examine the association between participation dose and depression risk...

Diabetes mellitus places a significant burden on the U.S. healthcare system. Because of the potential to reduce diabetic complications and costs through intensive management, diabetes has become a primary target for disease management programs...

The successful management of diabetes with a goal of achieving near-normoglycemia requires patients to make multiple lifestyle changes as part of an intensive, complex, and coordinated therapeutic regimen aimed at reducing the risk of complications associated with the disease...

A prevalent, chronic condition among members of the mushrooming elderly population in the United States, heart failure (HF) is a logical focus for population-based disease management...

This report documents the clinical improvements and costs experienced by a purchaser after introduction of a diabetes disease management program...

Diabetes disease management programs(DDMPs) are proliferating, but their effectiveness in improving quality and mitigating healthcare spending has been difficult to measure...

Diabetes disease management programs (DDMP) are proliferating, but their overall impact in improving quality of care using Health Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS) quality metrics has not been well studied...

To evaluate effectiveness of an Internet-based smoking cessation program as part of a comprehensive health risk reduction initiative in a large, geographically dispersed employee population...

To significantly reduce smoking prevalence, treatments must balance reach, efficacy, and cost. The Internet can reach millions of smokers cost-effectively. Many cessation Web sites exist, but few have been evaluated...

The Internet offers a promising channel to conduct smoking cessation research. Among the advantages of Internet research are the ability to access large numbers of participants who might not otherwise participate in a cessation trial, and the ability to conduct research efficiently and cost-effectively...

An increasing number of people have access to the Internet, and more people are seeking tobacco cessation resources online every year...

The purpose of this report is to estimate diabetes prevalence and annual health care costs for people with diabetes in 1992, compare average annual costs for diabetics and nondiabetics...

  Background  The Internet is a viable channel to deliver evidence based smoking cessation treatment that has the potential to make a large population impact on reducing smoking prevalence. There is high demand for smoking cessation information and support on

Abstract  The Internet can deliver smoking cessation interventions to large numbers of smokers. Little is known about the feasibility, reach, or efficacy of Internet cessation interventions. Virtually no data exist on who enrolls in cessation programs or on differences between

Abstract Organizations across industry sectors have intensified their initiatives to increase operational efficiency through effective resource allocation, and the health care sector is no exception. The health care industry has been faced with a number of additional factors that

Abstract Purpose The purpose of this descriptive clinical research study was to identify which method of communication, verbal or written, has the greatest impact on physician adjustment of the antidiabetes medication regimen for hospitalized patients with hyperglycemia. Methods The medical

Jane (not her real name), a woman in her 50s with heart failure, coronary artery disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, joined Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota’s (Blue Cross) care support program in November 2004. Care support

PopWorks, an innovative population health management system, promises to produce solutions that will not only strengthen patient-physician relationships, but also significantly impact overall health care expenditures.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – March 17, 2004 – American Healthways (Nasdaq: AMHC) and its Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota partner are recipients of the 2004 AstraZeneca-National Managed Health Care Congress (NMHCC) Partnership Award for their BluePrint for Health® program, award sponsors announced Tuesday in New York. BluePrint for Health® is the first total population disease management program proven to bend a health plan’s overall health-care cost trend by improving the health of members with chronic diseases and conditions.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Unveils 1st Year Program Results.

Outcomes for Medicare beneficiaries participating in American Healthways' comprehensive disease management program, diabetes Healthways, show a 17.1 percent or $114 per diabetes member per month reduction in total direct health care costs for the first year of operation.

Abstract A convergence of market, clinical, regulatory, and consumer forces is creating a strong demand for high quality and cost effective health care services. Meeting this pressing need is one of the greatest challenges managed care organizations (MCOs), employers, and

Maximizing participation: The problems with patient enrollment

Employees need information and support to manage their own health - you need new ways to lower health care costs. BluePrint for Health care support makes it happen.

Finally. What’s good for business is good for people. Health care costs are at the forefront of issues facing business today.

This article reports on the outcomes associated with remote physiological monitoring (RPM) conducted as part of a heart failure disease management program.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota recently announced receipt of three awards for excellence from the Disease Management Purchasing Consortium, in recognition of cost savings and improved quality of care achieved through the plan’s disease management efforts. The

Despite compound annual growth rates of 30% to 40% for the disease management (DM) industry over the past decade, the question "Does disease management work?" has persisted.

The number of individuals aging into the Medicare Program is projected to increase dramatically between 2010 and 2030 due to the aging of the “baby boomers.” As a result, the total number of Medicare beneficiaries is projected to grow from the 2008 level of 45 million to nearly 80 million by 2030.

Nonadherence to daily health behaviors is an enormous burden to the US healthcare system. Current interventions to improve medication adherence often are costly, intrusive, and overall minimally effective.

Healthcare cost trends have long been moving in the wrong direction. Some employers have success- fully reduced the upward trajectory of health-related expenses...

The aging demographic profile of the American population coupled with the increased burden of chronic disease is increasing the demand for care – both within the healthcare system and within the home. As a result of these trends, a