BURLINGTON, MA – In September 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicted that 48.3 million Americans would have diabetes by 2050.

Last month, Silverlink launched a new call program to support health plans’ diabetes disease management.

In addition to targeting a disease that is reaching epidemic proportions clinically and financially, the call program signals a change in disease management course of action.

Stan Nowak, CEO of Silverlink, said disease management is typically viewed in terms of episodic health events. The function of healthcare communication to a single event is reactive. While this is effective, Nowak said that the communications should be “knit together” in a lifecycle.

“With the lifecycle communication, you have a consistent plan for people in a consistent way, with the right information at different points,” he said. “It’s a different way of thinking about communication.”

The automated assistance for nurses provides a highly personalized experience for patients, according to Nowak. Silverlink designed its call program around test reminders to promote self-care and adherence. The Disease Management Association of America provided consensus guidelines for the measurement of clinical indicators for monitoring diabetes so patient progress can be shown.

The common theme of automated interactive phone calls for managed care companies is to drive behavior in a personalized and efficient process through education.

 “We recognize that there are communications challenges associated with reaching a large number of members in a short amount of time,” said Linda Lyle, vice president of operations at Cariten Healthcare, a healthcare insurance company. “Silverlink’s automated outreach capabilities give us a lot of flexibility and the ability to reach out to our members more effectively.”

Nowak noted that diabetes is well-suited to lifestyle changes and, therefore, an ideal disease for a call program.

Cynthia Burghard, a research director at Gartner, agreed, saying it makes sense to develop automated call resources to help diabetic patients. “Out of all the chronic diseases that can be prevented, diabetes ranks high. There are things you can do to manage and prevent diabetes,” she said.

“The body of knowledge of diabetes is incredibly obvious. The management of diabetics has a huge return,” she concluded.