Depression is prevalent, impairs function, impacts personal relationships and can contribute to onset of other chronic diseases or worse outcomes. This Strategies for Success program created an engaging learning activity that would equip learners with the tools and knowledge needed to improve outcomes by altering their practices and care. Its goal was to familiarize learners with methods for integrating clinical guidelines and standardized tools to screen adult patients, facilitate diagnosis and manage depression.
NCQA developed a program to improve health care provider learning and performance by teaching clinicians how to integrate depression screening and treatment guidelines into the practice setting, and how to implement a team-based approach to improve management of patients with depression.
Post-activity, participants were more knowledgeable about the PHQ-9 depression screening tool and had improved ability in assigning appropriate treatment for a patient who complains of difficulty thinking, concentrating and decision making, and who also reports feeling “down” and depressed. There was a 1.9-fold increase in clinicians’ ability to optimally manage a patient with moderate depression who received a prescription for an antidepressant. The estimated patient impact was over 11,000 individuals.