Care management processes for chronic diseases have held up well during pandemic

The first years of the COVID-19 pandemic saw significant disruption to many aspects of primary care delivery. But one exception, according to a new study, has been in the processes that primary care practices use to manage patients with chronic diseases. The study’s goal was to determine what role, if any, care management processes (CMPs) played in the worsened outcomes seen among patients with chronic conditions during the early part of the pandemic. To find out, the authors analyzed data from surveys about the presence and function of CMPs at 269 primary care clinics in Minnesota conducted in 2017, 2019 and 2021. Clinic leaders were asked detailed questions about the presence and functioning of CMPs in six domains important for providing consistent quality care for chronic diseases: information and tracking, chronic disease management, patient self-management, care plans and shared decisions, performance management and managing high-risk patients.