Brown2020

Statement of the eHealth Initiative
Subcommittee on Health
of the House Committee on Ways and Means
Eliminating Barriers to Chronic Care Management in
Medicare
February 25, 2003

Introduction

One of the greatest opportunities for improving care for Medicare beneficiaries is chronic disease management enabled by eHealth technologies. Effective chronic care requires systematic monitoring and management of patients by their health care providers before conditions become acute, painful and costly. The benefits of eHealth enabled chronic care have been established by leading health care institutions including the Department of Veterans Affairs, which recently published results from over two years of demonstration projects showing 63% reduction in hospital admissions and a significant improvement in the quality of life. Results were for patients enrolled in eHealth enabled disease management programs with major conditions that affect Medicare, including heart failure, diabetes, and respiratory disease.

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