DMAA and the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease
Stand by the Evidence: Wellness Works

Briefing Marks One Year Anniversary of Launch;
Release of New Research Highlighting the Burden of Chronic Illness

WASHINGTON, D.C.—DMAA: The Care Continuum Alliance joined with the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD) today to celebrate the PFCD’s first anniversary and to reaffirm that prevention, in particular primary prevention or wellness activities related to lifestyle changes, saves money and lives—and that given the state of the U.S. health care system and economy, the nation can no longer afford to ignore this issue.

"When we talk about health care reform in this country and how to make health care more affordable, we must focus on the number one driver of costs—preventable and poorly managed chronic diseases," said PFCD Executive Director, Ken Thorpe, PhD, chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University.

"The vast majority of spending in our system is rooted in treating these diseases, many of which are caused by poor health behaviors," he said. "Until we put in place public and private policies that do a better job of helping Americans get and stay healthy, we will continue to see our health costs rise—and this will have serious repercussions for our economy."

During the briefing, Dr. Thorpe addressed questions about the value of prevention, pointing to evidence of its promise. He noted that "prevention" is a catch-all term applied to everything from lifestyle-oriented changes, such as proper diet and exercise, to preventive care, such as screenings, to activities related to managing illnesses or conditions that are already present, such as taking medications as prescribed.

"DMAA emphasizes the ‘continuum of care’ because early interventions, such as prevention, are so important to achieving and maintaining health for the well, at risk and chronically ill," said DMAA President and CEO Tracey Moorhead, who joined Dr. Thorpe and other PFCD partners for today’s announcement. "Prevention and wellness promotion efforts will translate to health care savings and improved quality of life for all Americans over the long term."

Dr. Thorpe noted that a number of wellness activities have been shown to generate savings down the road and can offer value to the greater economy by enhancing productivity—not to mention the intrinsic value patients and their families derive from avoiding or mitigating illness.

In particular, he noted that an emphasis on adopting healthful lifestyles—reducing obesity and curbing smoking, for example—can lead to some of the greatest health and economic benefits. According to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 80 percent of cases of heart disease or stroke, 80 percent of cases of diabetes and about 40 percent of cases of cancer could be prevented if Americans stopped smoking, exercised regularly and ate a balanced diet.

The CDC statistic Dr. Thorpe cited is one of the many contained in the "Almanac of Chronic Disease," a new PFCD resource released at the briefing that provides a comprehensive overview of the tremendous burden chronic illnesses impose on health and health care in the United States. Dr. Thorpe and partner representatives who spoke at the briefing and whose organizations sponsored the development of the Almanac, available at www.fightchronicdisease.org, referred to the resource during their remarks to expound on the crisis.

The Almanac reveals that, in the United States today, chronic diseases:

• Affect more than 130 million Americans directly;
• Account for 7 in 10 deaths;
• Account for more than 75 cents of every dollar spent on health care, and nearly two-thirds of the growth in health care spending over the past 20 years; and
• Cost the U.S. economy $1 trillion a year in lost productivity.

As health care and the economy continue to be top-of-mind in the 2008 election, PFCD plans to continue to raise awareness of the connection of these issues to the nation’s chronic disease crisis, and to promote solutions that will work for all Americans.

The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease is a national coalition of more than 100 patient, provider, community organizations, business and labor groups and health policy experts committed to raising awareness of the number one cause of death, disability and rising health care costs in the United States: chronic disease.

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About DMAA: The Care Continuum Alliance
DMAA: The Care Continuum Alliance convenes all stakeholders providing services along the care continuum toward the goal of population health improvement. These care continuum services include strategies such as health and wellness promotion, disease management, and care coordination. DMAA: The Care Continuum Alliance promotes the role of population health improvement in raising the quality of care, improving health outcomes and reducing preventable health care costs for individuals with chronic conditions and those at risk for developing chronic conditions. DMAA's activities in support of these efforts include advocacy, research and the promotion of best practices in care management.

DMAA: The Care Continuum Alliance represents more than 200 corporate and individual stakeholders—including wellness, disease and care management organizations, pharmaceutical manufacturers and benefit managers, health information technology innovators, biotechnology innovators, employers, physicians, nurses and other health care professionals, and researchers and academicians. Visit DMAA on the Web at www.dmaa.org.