Chronic Disease Management

What is chronic disease management?

Chronic disease management ensures people with long-term health conditions enjoy as healthy and pain-free a life as possible despite their challenges.

At Maryland Primary Care and Urgent Care, the highly skilled providers design an individualized chronic disease management plan for you.

They include all the tests, treatments, and reviews you need to monitor your health effectively. They also offer invaluable advice on living with a chronic condition.

Why would I need chronic disease management?

You benefit from chronic disease management at Maryland Primary Care and Urgent Care if you have any long-term health problems.

Chronic diseases persist for more than three months, although they frequently last for years, and many are incurable. Common examples of chronic diseases include:

• Arthritis
• Fibromyalgia
• Cancer
• Heart disease
• Diabetes
• Obstructive sleep apnea
• Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
• Asthma
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

These conditions and many others can cause ongoing or recurring pain, fatigue, mobility problems, and other issues that make each day a struggle.

Conditions like hypertension (high blood pressure) and high cholesterol don’t cause symptoms until they reach such a severe stage you develop problems like heart disease. 

However, because they’re long-term disorders that require careful monitoring, you could also benefit from chronic disease management.

What would my chronic disease management plan contain?

When preparing your chronic disease management plan, your Maryland Primary Care and Urgent Care provider goes beyond the disease symptoms to consider other factors that might influence your health. These include:

• Your age
• Medical history
• Genetic predispositions
• Your diet
• How much exercise you get
• History of smoking
• How much alcohol you drink
• Your work and home life
• Living environment
• Comorbidities (other diseases you have)

Using all this information, your provider schedules routine testing such as bloodwork and diagnostic imaging, regular checkups, medication reviews, and treatments.

Some conditions require specific exams and interventions. For example, if you have diabetes, you need a regular diabetic foot check to ensure there are no cuts or skin problems that could develop into diabetic ulcers.

You might need an echocardiogram regularly to check your heart’s electrical activity if you have heart problems.

Your provider works with your specialist if you have one to manage all the regular care you need.

To benefit from Maryland Primary Care and Urgent Care’s comprehensive chronic disease management, call the office to schedule a consultation or book an online appointment.