ME Cares: a statewide system engaging providers in disease management.

ME Cares (Maine Cares) is a coalition of 32 Maine hospitals that offer community-based, telephonic care support (disease management) programs for patients with heart failure and/or coronary heart disease. We describe the steps, challenges, and lessons learned in coalition development and maintenance. We also present a pre- and post-analysis of our clinical outcomes after enrolling 2145 patients.