The German healthcare system is primarily designed to provide acute medical care. Due to a changing disease structure towards a predominance of chronic diseases, the healthcare structures need to be adapted. As part of this process, the first Disease Management Programmes (DMPs) were introduced in Germany in 2002 to ensure, coordinate and, above all, optimise the structured treatment of patients suffering from chronic, cost-intensive diseases. Using type 2 diabetes mellitus as an example, not only the medical but also the long-term economic effects are analysed here.