The doctor-patient relationship has been described in economic terms as an `agency relationship' where informed agents make decisions for uninformed clients. However, the decision to prescribe and the decision to accept the prescription by the patient are more complex in nature and involve many...

Migraine is a common chronic headache disorder affecting more than 10% of persons in Western populations. The clinical management of migraine is notable for the variability of diagnostic testing, therapeutic interventions and cost. Standards of care and clinical guidelines for migraine have...

The critical role of the patient and family caregivers in disease management is often overlooked or undervalued. Self-management of symptoms, lifestyle, behaviour and adherence to provider recommendations in general often make the difference between success and failure of disease management,...

Interactive voice response (IVR) phone systems offer unique opportunities for disease management. This technology can address challenges in patient care, including how to provide personalised assessment and intervention to large populations in a cost efficient manner. Furthermore, the IVR point...

The effective management of chronic illness has historically been plagued by patient non-adherence to treatment regimens. While disease management initiatives have recently proliferated in an attempt to more effectively manage these chronic illnesses, many of these new programmes have lacked...

Patient education is an essential component of a comprehensive disease state management programme. Proper planning for the patient education component will increase its effectiveness and lead to the building of a virtual bridge between the provider and the patient. A multidisciplinary team...

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a recently implemented disease management programme [Asthma Control and Education Program (ACE)] on patient outcomes (clinical and functional) and on resource utilisation in socio-economically disadvantaged (and largely...

There is considerable merit in undertaking to shift disease patterns at the community level. Typical problems reflect difficulties in the application of community-based prevention programmes, rather than inherent deficiencies in the concept itself. Scientific issues bear as much on successful...

Disease management, a new treatment model that may improve outcomes for patients with chronic illness, emphasises the need for formal assessments often not included in traditional approaches to healthcare, such as environmental exposures, self-care skills and functional status. This article...

Spending on direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) in the US rapidly increased from $US150 million in 1992 to $US1.2 billion in 1998 (to the end of November). Despite this level of expenditure, there is no literature on how DTCA affects patients' level of knowledge about medications, physician...