Primary care physicians face challenges in managing depression, study finds

Primary care physicians may not be the best to treat depression, a study published in Health Affairs suggests.

For the study, authors used data from the largest survey of physician practices in the nation to assess the use of five care management processes for depression and other chronic illnesses among primary care practices.

They found significantly less use of care management processes by primary care physicians for depression, compared to asthma, congestive heart failure or diabetes in 2012-2013.

On average, U.S. physician practices that were at least 33 percent primary care used fewer than one of the five care management processes examined for depression, with patient registries being the most commonly used process. This level has not changed since 2006-2007 across all practice sizes. However, the use of diabetes care management processes has significantly increased over time among larger practices.

"These findings may indicate that U.S. primary care practices are not well equipped to manage depression as a chronic illness, despite the high proportion of depression care they provide," the authors wrote. "Policies that incentivize depression care management, including additional quality metrics, should be considered."

 

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