The Role of Home Health Care in Disease Management

Abstract

Disease management has been considered the key to controlling costs associated with chronic disease while providing patients with the highest quality care throughout the continuum of their disease process. As acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) has become a more chronic and less acute disease, care of the AIDS patient requires an interdisciplinary team of health care prof essionals who possess a specialized knowledge base overseeing all health care activities throughout the illness. The difficulty lies in providing adequate data to payers that substantiates the effectiveness of disease management, especially home care's role. Johns Hopkins Home Care Group, Inc {JHHCG} partnered with Johns Hopkins Moore Clinic (Moore Clinic) to define a program that would demonstrate that AIDS patients could be cared for costeffectively under a capitated system while providing the highest possible level of care and the highest quality of life.