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Chronic care


Chronic care refers to medical care which addresses pre-existing or long term illness, as opposed to acute care which is concerned with short term or severe illness of brief duration. Chronic medical conditions include asthma, diabetes, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, congestive heart disease, cirrhosis of the liver, hypertension and depression. Without effective treatment chronic conditions may lead to disability.

The incidence of chronic disease has increased as mortality rates have decreased. It is estimated that by 2030 half of the population of the USA will have one or more chronic conditions.

Conditions, injuries and diseases which were previously fatal can now be treated with chronic care. Chronic care aims to maintain wellness by keeping symptoms in remission while balancing treatment regimes and quality of life. Many of the core functions of primary health care are central to chronic care. Chronic care is complex in nature because it may extend over a pro-longed period of time, requires input from a diverse set of health professionals, various medications and possibly monitoring equipment.

According to 2008 figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention chronic medical care accounts for more than 75% of health care spending in the US. In response to the increased government expenditure in dealing with chronic care policy makers are searching for effective interventions and strategies. These strategies can broadly be described within four categories. These are disease prevention and early detection, new providers, settings and qualifications, disease management programs and integrated care models.


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