Physicians help patients manage depression less than other conditions

A recent study published in Health Affairs found that when physician practices have care-management processes in place to identify and provide targeted care to patients with chronic conditions, physicians tend to use them less frequently for patients with depression.

Researchers analyzed data from national physician practices surveys to see how often physicians employed one of the following care-management processes: disease registries that identify patients with chronic conditions, feedback to providers on care quality, nurse case managers to coordinate care, patient education, and patient reminders about preventive care. In 2012 to 2013, physicians on average used less than one (0.8) of those processes for patients with depression, compared to 1.1 for patients with congestive heart failure and asthma, and 1.7 for patients with diabetes.
 
Source: Kaiser Health News