A systems approach to the evaluation of a disease management program

The goal of disease management (:DM) is to improve outcomes while optimizing the overall use of health care resources. However, few published studies have formally evaluated how well a DM program meets that goal. This paper provides a systems model for evaluating DM programs from the perspective of the health care plan, The proposed evaluation model has seven steps: adopting a systems perspective; establishing a framework for evaluation; identifying key structures, processes, and outcomes; developing specific performance measures; collecting, processing, modeling, and analyzing performance measurement data; making comparisons to criteria, standards, and goals; and, finally, conducting a formal evaluation of how well the DM program has met its objectives.