Chronic Disease Management A Review of Current Performance Across Quality of Care Domains and Opportunities for Improving Osteoarthritis Care

Osteoarthritis is the most prevalent chronic joint disease worldwide. The incidence and prevalence are increasing as the population ages and life-style risk factors such as obesity increase. There are several evidence-based clinical practice guidelines available to guide clinician decision making, but there is evidence that care provided is suboptimal across all domains of quality: effectiveness, safety, timeliness and appropriateness, patient-centered care, and efficiency. System, clinician, and patient barriers to optimizing care need to be addressed. Innovative models designed to meet patient needs and those that harness social networks must be developed, especially to support those with mild to moderate disease.