2 ________________________________________________ __ Current Issues in Pharmacoeconomics

Incorporate behavioural health into DM programmes Disease management (OM) companies should be looking at integrating elements of behavioural health into their programmes. according to Patrick Vega from behavourial health finn CMG Health. based in Maryland. US. Mr Vega and other OM experts suggest that behavioural health can be used to tackle some of the more challenging problems in OM. such as patient compliance and lifestyle changes. Patient lifestyle changes are central to many OM protocols and interventions. and behavioural health can be used to increase the motivation and compliance of participants. For example, behavioural health can be incorporated into OM programmes to help relieve depression in patients with chronic conditions. '/fthe patients are not motivated because they are depressed, regardless of how well-composed your disease management programme is, if they don't comply, it's not going to work', emphasised Mr Vega.

Think about it now There are only a couple of US companies offering behavioural OM services, and their programmes are not fully developed. However, Mr Vega asserts that non-behavioural OM vendors do not need to wait for these programmes to be introduced but can begin to integrate behavioural components (e.g. behavioural health support services) into their existing programmes. He believes that 'behavioural disease management will develop first in service to other disease management programs, rather than as a stand-alone'.

Former chairman and medical director of mental health at Lovelace Health Systems Dr Jeff Mitchell advises OM vendors and health plan providers to start thinking about behavioural health now, and to consult with mental health providers before implementing behavioural components of OM programmes. Behavioral elements termed needed, absent in OM. Disease Management News 3: I & 7, 25 Apr 1998 '00671'"

PharmacoEconomics & Outcomes News 23 May 1998 No. 163

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