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BACKGROUND: There is a need to evaluate empirical disease management programs used in managing chronic diseases such as diabetes mellitus in managed care settings. METHODS: We analyzed data from 252 patients with type 2 diabetes before and 1 year after enrollment in a disease management program. We examined clinical indicators such as HbA1C, HDL, LDL, total cholesterol, diastolic blood pressure, and BMI in addition to self-reported health status measured by SF-36 instrument. RESULTS: All clinical indicators showed statistically and clinically significant improvements. Only vitality and mental health showed statistically significant improvements in health status. Weak to moderate significant correlation between clinical indicators and health status was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Disease management can be effective at making significant clinical improvements for participants in a mixed-model HMO setting. No strong relationship between clinical indicators and health status was found. Future research is needed using a more specific health status measuring instrument and a randomized clinical trial design.
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