Disease management and the national health information network: the emerging nexus

Models for the future of the healthcare in the US can be arrayed along a continuum with two very different end points. Regardless of where the society finally ends up on the continuum, the creation of a national health information network (NHIN) is a fundamental necessity. The actual direction that the national healthcare model takes will emerge over the next several years. The case for implementation of an NHIN has strong merit regardless of which model comes into being. According to a report commissioned by the American Association of Health Plans, 45% of US healthcare spending is related to chronic disease, with that percentage growing rapidly. By 2020, that number is likely to reach 80%. The idea of an NHIN as an enabler to an improved healthcare system is gaining momentum in the public consciousness, and in the absence of complete funding, incremental steps toward building such a network will continue.