Disease Management as a Part of Total Health and Productivity Management

Abstract

When adults become ill they typically use more than just medical care services. They often miss time from work or incur periods of short term disability. In some cases, they also use workers' compensation, occupational health or long term disability programme services and, in some situations, sick employees may attend work but be substantially less productive. Disease management programme vendors can enhance their services by managing the full spectrum of health and productivity programme services that people use, not just medical care services. Health and productivity management (HPM) refers to the coordination of the many types of services that employees use. These services include medical care, disability programmes, workers compensation programmes, employee assistance programmes, absenteeism and occupational safety programmes. HPM also refers to activities meant to enhance on-the-job productivity. HPM requires that disease management programme managers take a broader view of health and disease management than is typical. These programme activities may include deciding which disease(s) to address as priorities; developing treatment guidelines that focus on more than just clinical care; choosing appropriate and relevant outcome measures to address; implementing interventions that enhance productivity, improve health, and limit unnecessary medical care use; and supporting continuous quality improvement efforts. Considering these activities under an HPM umbrella requires a focus on productivity and quality of life that will add substantial value to the services offered by disease management programmes. The HPM approach will be more costly initially, but should prove more cost effective in the long term, since it considers a much wider array of potential benefits from health and disease management.Disease management programmes, Pharmacoeconomics