Chronic disease management in rural and underserved populations: innovation and system improvement help lead to success.
Successful implementation of disease management (DM) is based on the ability of an organization to overcome a variety of barriers to deliver timely, appropriate care of chronic illnesses. Such programs initiate DM services to patient populations while initiating self-management education among medication-resistant patients who are chronically ill. Despite formidable challenges, rural health care providers have been successful in initiating DM programs and have discovered several ways in which these programs benefit their organizations. This research reports on six DM programs that serve large rural and underserved populations and have demonstrated that DM can be successfully implemented in such areas.
Bolin
Jane
J
Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Rural Public Health, Texas A & M Health Sciences Center, College Station, Texas 77843-1266, USA. jbolin@srph.tamhsc.edu
Gamm
Larry
L
Kash
Bita
B
Peck
Mitchell
M
D002908:Chronic Disease; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D019468:Disease Management; D006801:Humans; D008329:Managed Care Programs; D008507:Medically Underserved Area; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D012424:Rural Population; D012648:Self Care; D014481:United States