Depression is estimated to impact more than 16 million U.S. adults. Untreated, depression can lead to a host of health morbidities and mortality; it’s a leading cause of disability among adults 18-44 years of age, and presents a lifetime risk of suicide as high as 15%. Primary care physicians manage between 40% and 80% of patients who present with depressive symptoms.
Depression is among the top five medical conditions encountered in Partners HealthCare primary care practices, representing 10% of all primary care physician visits. That’s why Partners is dedicated to expanding depression screenings to connect patients with the coordinated mental health care resources they need.
What is our approach to managing quality for such large populations of patients?
Partners eCare, our electronic health record, allows us to collect health information and develop standardized lists, known as “registries”, to track the overall delivery of prevention services, such as depression screenings, for our patients – all in a single location for an entire population of patients. Our clinical teams review the data from these patient registries regularly, so they can reach out to patients who could benefit from additional prevention services, so our care team can promote better health.
What are we measuring and why?
Untreated depression is a major driver of poor health outcomes and preventable health care spending. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) encourages “primary care physicians to routinely screen their adult patients for depression in clinical settings that have systems in place to assure effective treatment and follow up.”
How does this measure differ from traditional metrics that rely on claims (billing) data?
With the help of our electronic health record (EHR) data, we are able to administer an annual depression screening for our entire patient population. This approach helps us to expand treatment beyond those patients who are prescribed an antidepressant medication to patients with reported symptoms throughout our entire primary care population – helping us to deliver depression-related care to those who truly need it.
