Measuring outcomes of type 2 diabetes disease management program in an HMO setting.

Background. There is a need to evaluate empirical disease management programs used in managing chronic diseases such as diabetes mellitus in managed care settings. Methods. We analyzed data from 252 patients; with type 2 diabetes before and 1 year, after enrollment in a disease management program. We examined clinical indicators such as HbA(1c), HDL, IDI., total cholesterol, diastolic blood pressure, and BMI in addition to self-reported health status measured by SF-36 instrument. Results. All clinical indicators showed statistically, and clinically, significant improvements. Only vitality and mental health showed statistically, significant improvements in health status. Weak to moderate significant con-elation between clinical indicators and health status Was observed. Conclusions. Disease management call be effective at making significant clinical improvements for participants in a mixed-model HMO setting. No strong relationship between clinical indicators and health status was found. Future research is needed using a more specific health status measuring instrument and a randomized clinical trial design.