Disease Management

Information and support for specific health care needs.

Overview

Aetna Health Connections is a free, voluntary program that helps people living with chronic conditions better understand their condition and its treatment, and to make healthy lifestyle changes. The program uses a holistic approach that looks at a person's total health, taking into account the facts that many people have more than one chronic condition and that these conditions are often interrelated.

The Aetna Health Connections Program provides information, support and guidance across approximately 30 conditions. If yours is one of them, you could benefit from:

• Educational materials and referrals to online health and wellness resources;
• One-on-one counseling from specially trained registered nurses;
• Referrals to clinical professionals such as diabetes counselors for specialized services and support, if needed;
• Aetna's 24-hour, toll-free disease management help line

The program also uses advanced technology – in the form of Aetna's ActiveHealth Management CareEngine® system – to improve the quality of care you receive. The CareEngine continuously scans your available health data and compares it with over 1,000 evidence-based guidelines of care. It can identify gaps, errors, omissions and duplications in care to prevent problems and reveal opportunities for better or safer care. When this occurs, the system generates a Care Consideration, a message for you and/or your doctor about a harmful situation and/or treatment alternative. Here are some examples:

• An Aetna member who was prescribed quinine to treat leg cramps received quinidine instead – a potentially life-threatening error. The CareEngine revealed the mistake and alerted the prescribing physician, who immediately contacted his patient.
• Another member diagnosed with coronary artery disease had no claim history for an ACE inhibitor, a recommended therapy. The CareEngine picked up on this gap in care and notified the treating physician.

CareEngine works behind the scenes on your behalf, providing information that can improve your care and help you and your doctor work better together. Together with the support and follow-up of Health Connections nurses, the program helps you stay well, minimize or prevent complications, and enjoy better overall health.

For more details about Aetna Health Connections, click here.