4 research outputs found
Integrated Care for Chronic Diseases – State of the Art
Chronic diseases represent a high cost for healthcare systems, for individuals, families, businesses and governments. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that an increase of 10% of chronic diseases is associated with a reduction of 0.5% of annual economic growth. Primary care has proven to ensure high levels of efficiency, effectiveness, equity, safety, timely and centrality of the patient achieving better health outcomes and lower costs. The Chronic Care Model (CCM) proposes a proactive approach in assisting the empowerment of patients and their community. The CCM contributes to improving the quality of care and health outcomes and the reduction of inequalities (e.g., ethnicity, social status) too