MANAGED ONCOLOGY CARE - THE DISEASE MANAGEMENT MODEL

BACKGROUND. As oncology becomes an increasing financial burden on the U.S. health care system, effort is being focused on finding methods to more effectively deliver, manage, and monitor the highly complex pano ply of cancer care services required by patients. This issue has growi ng significance and importance in light of an aging U.S. population an d the rapid penetration of managed care.METHODS. SalickNet, Salick Hea lth Care's disease management and managed care company, has been a pio neer in the development and implementation of cancer disease managemen t programs. The cornerstone is a proprietary computer-based disease ma nagement system called OMARS (Oncology Management Assessment Reporting System). The flexible yet sophisticated architecture allows for the m anagement of integrated care, data processing, and the generation of c ompelling custom reporting, fulfilling the goal of maximizing coordina ted and effective patient care. CONCLUSIONS. Based on data collected a nd analyzed across critical clinical, quality of life, and patient sat isfaction outcome measures, strong evidence exists that the SalickNet Disease Management Model is a highly effective vehicle for bringing ab out cost, quality, and outcomes advantages in cancer care. (C) 1998 Am erican Cancer Society.