OBJECTIVES: This study deals with an economic evaluation of a Disease Management Program for asthma with the help of an electronic control instrument for Home-Monitoring of the patient. Research was made on the improvement in quality of life as well as on the cost savings. METHODS: 112 adult patients with asthma of varying severities were divided randomly into two groups. The patients are all members of a large German health insurance group in the Bundesland Rheinland-Pfalz. The first group received an extensive Disease Management Program with electronic Home-Monitoring, while the control group was treated further by their GP. The patients were observed over a period of 12 months. Lung function tests and investigations on the quality of life were carried out over three visits at intervals of six months (at the beginning, after six months and after 12 months). The quality of life was measured using the Quality of Life Asthma (FLA) questionnaires, a validated disease-specific questionnaire and the EQ-5D (Euro-Qol). In addition, the treatment costs during the study time period were documented and evaluated. RESULTS: During the study, the quality of life of the control group revealed no changes statistically, while the patients in the disease management group achieved significantly higher values than those at the beginning of the study. The improvements are related particularly to the "Physical and Psychic Attributes" of the FLA, although they can also be seen in the (less sensitive) generic EQ-5D. Thus, the average EQ-5D value of 62 increased to 72, while in the control group it dropped from 65 to 60. The study data additionally shows that considerable savings are possible with disease management for asthma, especially concerning hospital services. These savings are partly counteracted with higher costs in other areas (above all, in medicaments). CONCLUSIONS: Disease management for asthma can lead to an improvement of the patient's quality of life and a reduction in treatment costs.