Health systems around the world are under increasing strain because of the rising prevalence of chronic conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, and asthma. For more than 15 years, disease-management programs (DMPs) have been promoted as a solution to this problem. By carefully coordinating the delivery of high-quality care to patients with chronic conditions, the programs are supposed to enhance the patients’ health, reduce hospitalization rates, and lower treatment costs.

Unfortunately, initial experience with DMPs was often disappointing. Many of them produced, at best, only modest improvements in health outcomes, and few were able to decrease health care spending. Thus, many payor, provider, and health system executives have questioned whether the programs are worth their cost.

More recently, however, some DMPs have produced much better results. Germany’s diabetes program, for example, has reduced the incidence of some complications and has lowered the overall cost of care by 13 percent. Germany is also achieving good results with its programs for coronary artery disease (CAD) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Several other countries have also begun to achieve good results with DMPs.