Disease Management Looks Healthy: Report

“More employers are finding that they can slash health care costs and enhance productivity by emphasizing prevention and better coordination of the care of such patients,” said Adam Klauber, director of investment research for Cochran, Caronia.

Typically, disease management firms operate under contract to health plans, hospitals and employers who self-insure. They seek to influence patient behavior to cut down on medication and doctor visits and improve the patients’ health and quality of life.

The report estimates only about 5% to 10% of the disease management market is tapped by the industry.

Medicare and Medicaid patients represent a largely untapped part of the market. Medicare alone could increase the size of the market by 40%, the authors point out.

Congress last year passed legislation steering more chronically ill patients into disease management, and the first federal contracts for the services will be announced in December.