Interdisciplinary management of chronic disease in primary practice

Primary care physicians are often challenged by the complex needs of patients with chronic disease. Unfortunately, many solo and small group practices lack the interdisciplinary resources essential to chronic disease management. To address this, clinicians and researchers at Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, developed the "Virtual Integrated Practice," a process that creates virtual patient care teams. Preliminary results in four practice sites using it have shown increased referrals to dietitians and improved nutritional compliance but less extensive involvement of social workers and pharmacy team members.