Disease state management in diabetes care.

Diabetes affects over 16 million Americans. Caring for patients with diabetes requires extensive health care resources. Managed care organizations must utilize resources cost-effectively to survive in the health care industry. A disease state management program for diabetes may enable the managed care organization to meet its goal of providing cost-effective quality health care while meeting regulatory standards. The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) which accredits managed care organizations and provides information on performance, grants accreditation status to managed care organizations and reports favorable comparisons with competing managed care organizations.