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	Institution: CLOCKSS  | My Account | E-mail Alerts | Access Rights | Sign In Vol. 8 No. 6, November 1999   Archives  •  Online Features Original Contribution  This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (68)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related article  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Psychiatry  • Depression  • Quality of Care, Other  • Alert me on articles by topic Quality of Care for Primary Care Patients With Depression in Managed Care Kenneth B. Wells, MD, MPH; Michael Schoenbaum, PhD; Jürgen Unützer, MD, MPH; Isabel T. Lagomasino, MD; Lisa V. Rubenstein, MD, MSHS Arch Fam Med. 1999;8:529-536. Objective  To evaluate the process and quality of care for primary care patients with depression under managed care organizations. Method  Surveys of 1204 outpatients with depression at the time of and after a visit to 1 of 181 primary care clinicians from 46 primary care clinics in 7 managed care organizations. Patients had depressive symptoms in the previous 30 days, with or without a 12-month depressive disorder by diagnostic interview. Process indicators were depression counseling, mental health referral, or psychotropic medication management at index visit and the use of appropriate antidepressant medication during the last 6 months. Results  Of patients with depressive disorder and recent symptoms, 29% to 43% reported a depression-specific process of care in the index visit, and 35% to 42% used antidepressant medication in appropriate dosages in the prior 6 months. Patients with depressive disorders rather than symptoms only and those with comorbid anxiety had higher rates of depression-specific processes and quality of care (P<.005). Recurrent depression, suicidal ideation, and alcohol abuse were not uniquely associated with such rates. Patients visiting for old problems or checkups received more depression-specific care than those with new problems or unscheduled visits. The 7 managed care organizations varied by a factor of 2-fold in rates of depression counseling and appropriate antidepressant use. Conclusions  Rates of process and quality of care for depression as reported by patients are moderate to low in managed primary care practices. Such rates are higher for patients with more severe forms of depression or with comorbid anxiety, but not for those with severe but "silent" symptoms like suicide ideation. Visit context factors, such as whether the visit is scheduled, affect rates of depression-specific care. Rates of care for depression are highly variable among managed care organizations, emphasizing the need for process monitoring and quality improvement for depression at the organizational level. From RAND, Santa Monica, Calif (Dr Wells, Schoenbaum, and Rubenstein); the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital, University of California, Los Angeles (Drs Wells and Unützer); the Charles R. Drew Medical University, Los Angeles (Dr Lagomasino); and the Center for Healthcare Provider Behavior, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Sepulveda, Calif (Dr Rubenstein). RELATED ARTICLE The Archives of Family Medicine Continuing Medical Education Program Arch Fam Med. 1999;8(6):543-545. FULL TEXT   THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES Psychiatric Treatment Received by Primary Care Patients With Panic Disorder With and Without Agoraphobia Marcks et al. Psychiatr. Serv. 2009;60:823-830. ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT   Behavioral Activation of a Breast Cancer Patient With Coexistent Major Depression and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Armento and Hopko Clinical Case Studies 2009;8:25-37. 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