Sickness fund begins disease management project:

Germany's largest statutory health insurance fund, the AOK, is preparing a series of new projects designed to aid in the treatment of the chronically ill. The initiative fits in with the government's desire to reform the Risikostrukturausgleich, the fund balancing mechanism, but, as Dr Gabriele Muller de Cornejo of the AOK explains, has been long overdue. "We have an outstanding system for acute care in Germany, but chronic care is unbelievably poorly organised," she says. The Disease Management system which the AOK hopes to introduce, would better co-ordinate prevention, diagnosis, therapy, rehabilitation and care. It would further ensure that doctors, care services, hospitals and rehabilitation services are kept in constant communication with one another.