Managing Chronic Disease Shouldn't Feel Like a Full-Time Job

Across the country, nearly three in four adults are living with at least one chronic condition. Yet for many people, managing their health can feel like a full-time job. Between coordinating appointments, managing medications, understanding benefits, scheduling screenings, and navigating multiple providers, staying on top of care can be overwhelming, especially when the healthcare experience feels fragmented.

As healthcare leaders, we have an opportunity to rethink chronic disease management by creating more connected, personalized experiences that make it easier to understand care, stay on track, and know what to do next.

Managing a chronic condition has never been simply about treating a diagnosis. Long-term success depends on helping people navigate their care with confidence, providing support before problems escalate, and making it easier to know next steps. That means moving beyond episodic care toward a more connected, proactive approach that brings together data, technology, and personalized support.

At Elevance Health, we are working to simplify that experience by combining data-driven insights, digital tools, and proactive outreach to connect the people we serve to the support they need, when they need it, through services offered by our affiliated health plans and Carelon.

Today's health plans are increasingly able to anticipate members' needs. By bringing together medical, pharmacy, behavioral health, and social data, organizations can identify gaps in care, recognize opportunities for earlier intervention, and offer timely, personalized support before a missed screening, medication lapse, or unmanaged symptoms become a more serious health event.

This philosophy comes to life through Proactive Member Engagement (PME), an enterprise-wide program that brings together medical, pharmacy, behavioral health, and social data to anticipate members' needs and identify gaps in care. Using advanced analytics, PME delivers timely, personalized outreach through members' preferred communication channels, including text, phone, and email, helping people take action without navigating fragmented communications. Operating at scale, PME supports more than 12 million member interactions each year, helping create a more coordinated, "one member, one experience" approach that supports increased wellness visits, improved medication adherence, and better overall outcomes.

For members with more complex needs, personalized care coordination can make managing a condition more manageable day to day. Dedicated care teams help members build tailored care plans, answer questions, monitor symptoms, and connect them with the right care professionals when questions arise. Ongoing engagement, combined with access to digital tools and 24/7 nurse support, helps members stay on track with treatment, make informed decisions, and feel more confident managing their health.

The same philosophy extends to new care experiences such as Total Movement Care, which connects members with musculoskeletal conditions to specialized clinicians, virtual-first physical therapy, and coordinated navigation earlier in their care journey, helping improve outcomes while reducing unnecessary procedures and improving the member experience.

Digital experiences also have an increasingly important role to play. Through the Sydney Health app, members can receive personalized guidance based on their benefits, care history, and health needs. Whether helping members schedule appointments, find in-network providers, complete preventive screenings, or understand recommended next steps, digital tools can help translate complex care plans into clear, actionable guidance that supports ongoing engagement.

The goal is not simply to digitize healthcare. It’s to make healthcare easier to navigate. When care feels connected instead of fragmented, members are more likely to stay engaged, adhere to treatment plans, and receive the right care at the right time. That not only improves the member experience but also helps reduce avoidable emergency department visits and hospitalizations while supporting better long-term outcomes.

As healthcare continues its shift toward whole-person, value-based care, simplifying the experience of managing chronic disease should be a strategic priority for healthcare organizations. Predictive insights, coordinated care, and personalized support are becoming essential to helping people better manage chronic conditions while improving health outcomes across the healthcare system.

Managing a chronic condition will never be effortless. But it shouldn't feel like navigating the healthcare system alone. By creating more connected, personalized experiences that anticipate people's needs and provide proactive guidance, healthcare leaders can help people spend less time navigating care and more time living their lives.

Shantanu Agrawal, MD, MPhil is Chief Health Officer at Elevance Health, where he oversees the enterprise whole-health strategy — including medical policy, clinical quality, and delegation oversight — as well as our industry-leading work addressing health-related social needs and health equity. Passionate about improving health outcomes and reducing disparities, Dr. Agrawal draws on his clinical and business expertise to push for a more equitable health space for the people Elevance Health serves. In addition, he leads Elevance Health’s community health strategy and the Elevance Health Foundation.