The development of disease management programmes requires a systematic planning approach that considers disease characteristics and the structure and operations of the health plan. Well designed disease management programmes offer the potential to meet patient and plan needs while promoting a more cost effective approach to patient care.A disease management programme should meet specific organisational goals, improve coordination of care, take a holistic view of health and be based on a comprehensive environmental assessment. The programme should have clear objectives that meet documented population needs. Programme interventions and implementation methods should be evidence-based and compatible with the plan's policies, operations, information system capabilities and environment. The evaluation plan should include a variety of end-points and consider noncausal explanations for results. All programme components should be acceptable to plan administration, providers, practitioners and patients.