Nowhere is that principle more prevalent than in the execution of select medical management strategies. Techniques used in primary prevention include health risk assessments and health education. Secondary prevention - avoiding the occurrence of the acute phase of a disease once a patient has been diagnosed with it. Techniques employed in secondary prevention also include health risk assessments as well as disease management and nurse triage. Tertiary prevention - avoiding patient decline or worsening of a serious patient condition.
Techniques used in tertiary prevention also include disease management.
This article focuses primarily on preventive medical management techniques commonly employed by managed care organizations - health risk assessment, health education, nurse triage, and disease management. While these techniques have been in existence for many years, there appears to be a resurgence of their importance as MCOs struggle to differentiate themselves in the marketplace and employers become more aware of their value and ask for them when selecting health plans. Each technique is outlined briefly discussed in this article. Nationally, employers devote approximately 95 percent of health benefit expenses to treating illness. They want to decrease these costs by shifting more resources to preventive care and health promotion efforts.