Data warehousing in disease management programs.

Disease management programs offer the benefits of lower disease occurrence, improved patient care, and lower healthcare costs. In such programs, the key mechanism used to identify individuals at risk for targeted diseases is the data warehouse. This article surveys recent warehousing techniques from HMOs to map out critical issues relating to the preparation, design, and implementation of a successful data warehouse. Discussions of scope, data cleansing, and storage management are included in depicting warehouse preparation and design; data implementation options are contrasted. Examples are provided of data warehouse execution in disease management programs that identify members with preexisting illnesses, as well as those exhibiting high-risk conditions. The proper deployment of successful data warehouses in disease management programs benefits both the organization and the member. Organizations benefit from decreased medical costs; members benefit through an improved quality of life through disease-specific care.