Utilizing and Integrating the Internet in Disease Management

The Internet's information capabilities and benefits to commerce have been proven but these results have an uncertain relationship to healthcare, managed care and disease management. The highly fragmented structure of the US healthcare industry presents strategic and operational issues, which will challenge universal Internet implementation. Furthermore, a significant concern in implementing an Internet tie-in with healthcare is safeguarding patient confidentiality. The US healthcare industry is long overdue for an overhaul. It is hoped that the Internet will go far beyond simply providing medical information and become the link between doctors, insurers and hospitals. Disease management is ideally structured to deal with the myriad of issues concerning patients, doctors and payors. Implementation of an Internet strategy in a disease management setting could provide the answer to improved quality of care, demand for outcomes information and payors demand for controlled costs.