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Program helped physicians better manage patients' depression

The use of evidence-based practices in screening for and treating depression can be increased with a performance improvement initiative for physicians, according to recent study findings.

Michael E. Thase, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, and colleagues evaluated a three-stage performance improvement continuing medical education program to see the effect of increasing physicians’ use of practices that have been shown to improve diagnosis and care for depression. The first stage (stage A) was completed by 492 participants, 227 went on to initiate stage B by submitting an implementation plan to improve patient care and 186 actually implemented the plan. All three stages were completed by 86 participants (completers).

At baseline, 90% of completers reported providing educational resources to patients vs. 80% of non-completers (P=.039).

During stage B, 74% of completers had plans to implement standardized depression screening criteria and 73% reported doing so after completing stage B. Additionally, initiating medication adherence methods was reported by 22% of completers during stage B, and 26% reported doing so by completion of stage B.

Overall, at baseline, 26% of participants reported using standardized depression screening, which increased to 68% at follow-up. Follow-up screening also increased from 48% to 75%.

“Treating and managing patients with depression can be difficult, yet depression is one of the most common psychiatric conditions,” the researchers wrote. “Improvements in patient care through use of clinician self-assessment, goal setting, and reassessment suggest that clinicians achieved greater awareness of evidence-based measures. Self-assessment practices also revealed a gap between self-reported clinician behavior and actual execution. After participating in this [performance improvement] initiative, clinicians were better equipped to manage patients and lessen their disease burden. This initiative illustrates the value of [performance improvement] in psychiatric patient care.”

Disclosure: See the full study for a complete list of relevant financial disclosures.