Chronic diseases represent an increasing burden for both the patient and
healthcare system. Many people also now have more than one chronic
disease. For those people with chronic diseases living in rural areas,
the risk for hospitalization is more than 60% greater. These patients
and their primary care providers face an enormous challenge in meeting
their day-to-day health needs that patients with chronic diseases have.
To fill this need, we will develop an Internet-based chronic disease
management (iCDM) program that will bring the much needed patient and
provider support to the patients' homes and communities. Partnering with
five health authorities and on health organization, we will develop the
iCDM to deliver specialized care services to patients in small urban
and rural communities. Following completion of developing and testing,
we will evaluate the program in 300 patients with more than one chronic
disease living in areas without access to specialized care services.
Patients will be assigned to either use the iCDM in connection with
their primary care provider, or usual care. Following two years, we will
compare the two groups on healthcare utilization and patient
improvements. It is anticipated that the iCDM will improve patient care
and reduce healthcare resources at the same time. In which case, our
partners will work to quickly implement the program.
