Health IT for Improved Chronic Disease Management

Chronic diseases - such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes–are placing a growing burden on the U.S. health care system.  In response, some health care organizations are instituting chronic disease management (CDM) programs to reduce the incidence of preventable hospitalizations and adverse events by more effectively and comprehensively managing the health of patients with chronic conditions. Many of these organizations are implementing health information technology (health IT) to facilitate their chronic disease management programs.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has funded a broad portfolio of research projects to foster innovation in using health IT to improve care for patients with chronic diseases.  This brief highlights early observations from 13 of these projects that incorporate the use of health IT in their programs.