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Obesity Disease Management Opportunities and Barriers
Author(s) -
Sidorov Jaan E.,
Fitzner Karen
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
obesity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.438
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1930-739X
pISSN - 1930-7381
DOI - 10.1038/oby.2006.72
Subject(s) - obesity , medicine , disease management , disease , management of obesity , weight management , medline , environmental health , gerontology , intensive care medicine , overweight , weight loss , political science , parkinson's disease , law
Abstract Disease management, a system of coordinated health care interventions and communications for chronically ill populations, relies on patient education and case management to engage individuals in the management of their condition. Disease management also aims to enhance the quality of interactions between doctors and patients and advance evidence‐based medicine. Because these programs’ interventions frequently include helping individuals who suffer comorbidities associated with obesity to reduce their BMI, adaptation of disease management to populations with obesity seems a viable option. A major barrier for implementing disease management for obesity, however, is the lack of proven return on investment, which limits health plan and disease management organization interest. Purchaser demand may overcome this reluctance. Further research is needed to objectively test whether disease management interventions would be clinically effective for obese populations, produce positive financial outcomes for insurers, and enhance workplace productivity.