It is estimated that more than 120 million people in the U.S. have a chronic health condition, and 24% of those have three or more conditions. Overall, the veteran population is sicker and older than the general population, and a large proportion suffer from one or more chronic illnesses. The challenge to VA and other healthcare organizations is how best to serve patients with complex chronic care needs. To further our understanding of the many issues surrounding chronic care, VA brought together experts on chronic care from both within and outside the VA to participate in a state-of-the-art (SOTA) conference on "Managing Complexity in Chronic Care." SOTA participants focused on what is needed in clinical care, research, and education to help create a health care system that will best manage the complexity associated with veterans who have multiple chronic illnesses.
As part of the SOTA, background papers were commissioned and then augmented as a result of the SOTA deliberations. A special supplement recently published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine features papers from the SOTA conference.* Articles focus on an array of topics including self-management needs of patients with multiple chronic conditions (MCC); the business case for cost-saving mechanisms to improve quality of care; how multiple chronic conditions are related to functional impairment and increased mortality rates, as well as health expenditures associated with MCC. Investigators also address informatics strategies that may have the potential to improve care for chronic illnesses.
*Journal of General Internal Medicine December 2007;22(3):373-444.
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