For Immediate Release: June 3, 1998
Contact:
Patrick Cody
703-838-7528
Leading Mental Health Advocacy Group Recognizes New Mental Health Guidelines New Measures Are First Step To Improve Treatment for Depression
TORONTO, CANADA --- A leading advocacy group for improved mental health care, the National Mental Health Association, today expressed public support for new quality measures for depression treatment released by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). NCQA is the widely recognized leader in the effort to assess and report on the quality of care provided by the nation's managed care organizations.
Recently, NCQA released a draft version of the new anti-depression measurements for public comment, which ended May 29. The measures were based on clinical research developed by the Agency for Healthcare Policy and Research, an agency of the United States Public Health Service. The new measures recommend that managed care organizations be evaluated on patient treatment for depression as follows:
-- Whether follow-up visits are frequent enough to ensure optimal medication management.
-- Whether, when patients first begin taking antidepressants, they stay on their medication for at least 12 weeks.
-- Patients treated with antidepressants stay on their medications for at least six months, the minimum duration necessary to evaluate effectiveness. The guideline recommends that anti-depression treatment continue (Continuation Treatment Phase) for 4-9 months following acute symptoms (Acute Treatment Phase).
-- Recovery is defined as 6 symptom-free months.
"One in four women and one in eight men will experience one episode of major depression in their lifetime. Major depression is a direct threat to the well-being of American families and to the productivity of our nation's workforce," said Michael Faenza, NMHA president and CEO. "Because mental health treatment works and most Americans get their healthcare in managed care settings, NCQA has taken a first critical step toward improving the treatment of depression in managed primary care settings. Managed care organizations need to turn their attention to the immediate implementation of the new measures and continue to improve the recognition and treatment of all mental illness."
"It was critical for the NCQA to develop new quality measures for the managed care community to recognize depression as a treatable medical illness that can strike anyone-- loved ones, neighbors, co-workers, friends-- at any time. Now, the managed care community will be better equipped to administer proper care for people with depression." said Lydia Lewis, executive director of the National Depressive and Manic-Depression Association, headquartered in Chicago, the nation's largest illness-specific, patient-run organization.
Adoption and implementation of these guidelines will provide:
-- primary care physicians with the tools they need to appropriately treat depression.
-- consumers the information they need to monitor the care they are receiving.
-- managed care organizations the ability to ensure a uniform standard of service.
"We are delighted with the response from the managed care community and the mental health community on the new measures. Finding better ways to measure the quality of treatment for individuals with depression is a priority for NCQA." said Margaret E. O'Kane, NCQA president. "We look forward to continuing to work with the NMHA and other advocacy groups towards this goal."
Health experts believe NCQA's new and positive steps will help to assure improved treatment of depression by physicians in the managed care community. Depression is one of the most common disorders seen in primary care, yet most studies indicate that more than 50 percent of the time, primary care physicians fail to recognize depression. The surgeon general has recently cited undiagnosed and untreated depression as one of the causes of the rising suicide rate. One of the reasons is a lack of standardized screening tools and treatment guidelines.
"AHCPR is pleased that our continued collaboration with NCQA is leading to the translation of outcomes and effectiveness research into valid and reliable measures of quality," said John M. Eisenberg, M.D., AHCPR Administrator. "We commend NCQA for using scientific evidence as the foundation of their work with managed care plans to measure and improve the quality of care."
Reaction has been positive to the new measures from a variety of organizations. The Pacific Business Group on Health, as reported in Mental Health Reports, suggested that the new measures are sending a signal to health plans to focus on critical health areas such as depression treatment.
"NCQA has taken a bold and important step for people who suffer from depression by adopting a performance measurement for antidepressant management. Depression in seniors is often overlooked because its symptoms are similar to those of other conditions. These guidelines will help correct this serious problem. Recognition and improved treatment for depression has been a priority for our organization due to the severity of undiagnosed depression in the senior community," said National Council on Aging president James Firman, Ed.D.
NCQA is a non-profit watchdog organization who reviews the plans of managed care organizations that provide health services to more than three quarters of the Americans enrolled in HMO's. HEDIS '99 (Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set), is NCQA's most recent set of standardized performance measures, that will help consumers and employers compare the performance of health plans on a variety of significant public health issues such as mental illness, cancer, heart disease, smoking, asthma and diabetes.
The National Mental Health Association (NMHA), founded in 1909, is a volunteer advocacy organization dedicated to addressing all aspects of mental health and mental illness. The association works for improved care, treatment, and services for children and adults with mental health treatment needs through it national office and more than 300 affiliates nationwide.
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