Medibank Private says better management of chronic disease patients is showing early signs of reducing unnecessary hospital visits through tailored care plans, but has found that some measures are as simple as ensuring patients don't miss their specialist appointments.

The $7 billion health insurer has been running its CareComplete program since mid 2014 in an attempt to take better care of its sickest members and reduce the number of times they visit hospital. After kicking off with a 100 person pilot, the program now covers 5000 of Medibank's 4 million members and costs about $30 million a year.