It may take a village to raise a child, but disease management (DM) programs across the country are benefiting from partnerships with community resources that significantly enrich the breadth and quality of their initiatives. Taking a page from Ed Wagner's Chronic Care model, many DM organizations are teaming up with state programs, local agencies, schools, faith organizations, businesses and clubs to fill gaps in program offerings and coverage.

In many cases, these creative collaborations extend resources and budgets far beyond what the DM program could hope to accomplish on its own. In turn, those seeking to access healthcare find more solutions at their disposal.

"Profitable Partnerships in Disease Management: Community Collaborations that Enhance Care Access and Outcomes," offers tips for structuring partnerships and maximizing the benefits, overcoming the challenges community partnerships can present and evaluating the impact these collaborations can have on program effectiveness. This 35-page special report features case studies from two healthcare organizations that successfully collaborate with community resources to create more robust DM offerings, particularly for their Medicaid and Medicare members and patients.

This report also shares examples of other successful joint ventures, including the benefits of teaming up with schools and how a partnership has rounded out a depression DM program.

In "Profitable Partnerships in Disease Management: Community Collaborations that Enhance Care Access and Outcomes," HIN's contributing authors Michelle Brooks, RN, MSN, administrator, regional health plans for Pitt County Memorial Hospital, University Health Systems of Eastern Carolina and Judith Szilagyi-Neary, clinical care manager at Ovations, a United Healthcare Company, detail each phase of partnership-building, providing examples and anecdotal evidence:

• Why and how to partner;
• Strategies for a successful collaboration;
• Case studies of working partnerships;
• Fostering the collaborative spirit;
• Tapping schools, employers and other healthcare organizations for potential partnerships;
• Special considerations for the Medicare and Medicaid populations;
• and much more:

Table of Contents

• Carolina Access: Medicaid in North Carolina
  • Making the Vision a Reality
  • Community Care of North Carolina
  • What are Community Networks?
  • High-risk High-cost Patients
  • Our Strategies
  • Implementing Community-Based Case Management
  • Developing Community Partnerships
• Extending into the Communities to Maximize Resources
  • Utilizing Community-based Resources to Maximize Success
  • The Why and How of Partnering
  • Maximizing Partnerships
  • Creating a Beneficial Partnership
  • Identifying Members
  • Working with Community-based Organizations
  • Massive Outreach to Our MDs
  • Achieving Success
  • The Health Risk Screen
  • The Financial Measurement
  • Health and Financial Screenings
  • The Core of Strategizing and Maximizing
  • Living Self-management Programs
  • Continuing to Engage Community Resources
• Who Else Is Talking about Community-based Resources
  • On Staying in Touch with Patients
  • On the Workplace Community
  • On Depression DM
  • On Health Management
  • On Working with the Schools
• Q&A: Ask the Experts
  • Electronic Prescriptions
  • Increasing Well-Child Visits
  • Measuring Outcomes and Results
  • Accountability
  • Information Protection and Privacy
  • Negotiating with Community Providers
• Glossary
• For More Information
• About the Authors
• Glossary