Strategies to Improve Depression Care
To improve treatment for depression and eliminate barriers to treatment, the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) made the following recommendations in its report “The State of Depression in America.” The authors called on members of Congress, researchers, and private insurers to take the following steps:
Congress must equalize Medicare reimbursement coverage to patients for mental health services. Medicare pays for only 50 percent of mental health outpatient services compared with 80 percent of outpatient services for other types of disorders. | |||||
Private insurers must provide greater incentives for primary care physicians to identify and treat complex cases of chronic depression. Unfortunately, reimbursement for many providers is based on the number of patients they see, said DBSA President Lydia Lewis, and “they are not encouraged to take the time to screen patients for depression or manage complex cases.” | |||||
The government and private sector must enact loan-forgiveness programs to provide incentives to students to specialize in mental health care. Over the past two decades, tuition fees at public medical schools have increased by 528 percent. | |||||
Researchers in both the public and private sectors must expedite biologic and genetic research to develop better treatments. “Genetic and brain imaging studies are two of the most promising areas of research and must be a major funding priority,” said Lewis. | |||||
Both sectors must support and promote increased access to peer support services. Lewis said the DBSA report found that participants in peer-support programs report improvements in self-esteem, decision-making skills, and social functioning, as well as symptom reduction and lower hospitalization rates. | |||||
