Families, clinicians, payors, and policy-makers continue to grapple with the very complex problem of caring for people with chronic diseases. These patient populations defy the status quo in health care, which is based on discrete and billable episodes of care that, for the most part, take place within the walls of physicians’ offices and other health care facilities. Patients with chronic illnesses, however, need frequent, if not continuous care where they live and work.
To a great degree, the elderly are responsible for a large proportion of health care dollars spent on the care of chronic disease. This year, the eldest of the Baby Boomer generation—the 78 million people born between 1946 and 1964—turn 62, so the issue of how to deal with chronic illnesses in a clinically and cost effective way is becoming critical