Chronic disease and the healthcare crisis

The emerging burden of chronic disease over the past half-century fell upon a medical profession that was born in an era of acute disease predominance, had became imbued with cure as the goal, assumed individual physician authority with patient passivity, and was structured to treat disease as a passing episode in the patient’s life. Despite the change in the major problem confronting it, the profession has remained largely locked in those attitudes and practices designed for acute disease. When applied to chronic disease, the attitudes and practices are neither effective nor efficient. The development of appropriate healthcare practices for chronic disease is central to solving the healthcare crisis. This paper is concerned with that need.