Of course, some barriers are purely educational and can be overcome with effective teaching methods. The Challenges Case managers or other qualified professionals involved in teaching or administrating their programs are faced with a great challenge in that they not only must teach the proper material and administer the appropriate treatment under specific protocols, but must also understand a patient's fears, desires, and expectations so as to maximize their effectiveness in the management of their disease state. Click here to view a flow chart for developing an asthma disease management program. Many disease management programs are available that possess the clinical features needed for good care, while retaining flexibility to be custom fit for any patient base. This is especially true of asthma management.
Clinicians can no longer wait for patients to become extremely ill before they are treated.
Many patients have difficulty in meeting their own financial responsibilities, and the nation's health care financing and delivery system can no longer support costly, ineffective care. Preventive medicine is not a new concept. However, it is not being used to its fullest potential, especially in treating expensive, chronic diseases like asthma, emphysema, or congestive heart failure. Maybe anonymity should be the goal. Selected References Wilkins, MA, RRT, Robert L. and Dexter, MD, FACP, FCCP, James R., Respiratory Disease, Principles of Patient Care , First Edition, Philadelphia, F.A. Davis Company, 1993.