DMAA Urges Continued Administration Commitment to Wellness, Prevention

Statement attributable to:
Tracey Moorhead
President and Chief Executive Officer, DMAA: The Care Continuum Alliance

"DMAA: The Care Continuum Alliance appreciates President Obama's statements to date in support of wellness, prevention and other measures to fight chronic disease. We look forward to a reaffirmation of this position in his address to Congress.

"Transformation of our health care system to one focused on preventive care and health promotion will require systemic change to align incentives across payers, providers, purchasers and consumers toward improved health. Reform must encompass broad-scale efforts to better prevent, treat and manage chronic disease, which consumes three-quarters of all health care spending, diminishes quality of life for millions of Americans and threatens to erode our standing as a leader in the world economy.

"DMAA and its members are uniquely qualified to assist policymakers in designing and evaluating programs to prevent and manage chronic conditions. This expertise is built upon a foundation of evidenced-based medicine, advanced analytic methods, effective use of health information technologies and considerable research on communications and behavior change.

"We stand ready to work with the President and Congress as reform efforts move forward and we urge all stakeholders to keep prevention and promotion of good health at the center of this important debate."

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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.