But for suitable patients and conditions, it can mean sophisticated disease management using tools that can't be equaled with other methods. And the industry has taken notice, with half of the 160 traditional disease management companies now developing an Internet capacity, according to Al Lewis, executive director of the Boston-based Disease Management Purchasing Consortium and Advisory Council. There are also at least 10 new startups focusing exclusively on Internet-based disease management. These firms are all going after significant potential cost savings. The mass customization of clinical information, according to David Nash, M.D., associate dean of Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and editor of Connecting with the New Healthcare Consumer.
Patients can receive information, advice and instructions tailored to their specific situation.
For example, after a diabetes patient logs on to report glucose levels, the provider could respond within a couple of hours with new insulin dosage recommendations. There must be other forms of access for patients who are not Internet-savvy, and additional support available for those with severe or uncontrolled illnesses. Internet-based programs will be most successful for diseases with a sufficient number of patients, in order to justify the investment involved in offering an educational and monitoring component of care, Lewis says. But some disease management firms are pushing those limits, tackling rare diseases such as hemophilia and lupus as well as more common candidates like diabetes, asthma and heart disease. Ill.-based CorSolutions Medical, Inc. relies on the Internet as just one of a number of options for care management.