title: The cost of information technology-enabled diabetes management.
abstract: As a result of the high cost of diabetes, an array of interventions for managing this disease has been developed. Estimating the cost of various approaches to diabetes disease management is critical to inform purchasing decisions. This review focuses on 5 provider- and payer-sponsored diabetes management approaches that use information technology (IT) and provides cost estimates for each approach based on a literature review and interviews with 38 provider practices, hospitals, payers, and vendors. Cost estimates are reported for "typical" small, medium, and large provider practices and payers. Provider-sponsored diabetes registries are estimated to be the least expensive approach for small and medium sized practices. For large practices with electronic health record systems, modifying such systems with diabetes-specific clinical decision support capabilities is projected to be the most economical approach. While limited data prevented the inclusion of all implementation costs, these projections serve as a starting point to inform the purchasing decisions of organizations planning to introduce IT-enabled diabetes management.
authors.affiliation: Program in Health Policy, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Adler-Milstein
authors.forename: Davis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bu
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Janice
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kendrick
authors.forename: Julie M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Hook
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Bates
authors.forename: Blackford
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Middleton
mesh_terms: D003625:Data Collection; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000191:economics / Q000517:prevention & control*; D019468:Disease Management; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D007256:Information Systems / Q000191:economics*; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic; D012648:Self Care