Table 1.
Quality Measures for Depression
| Measure | Depression Type* | Definition |
| Effectiveness | ||
| Acute-phase treatment | A | Continuation of new antidepressant for 84 d |
| Continuation-phase treatment | A | Continuation of new antidepressant for 180 d |
| Optimal clinician contact | A | 3+ visits with mental health codes in 12 wk after new antidepressant |
| Follow-up after mental health hospitalization | A, B | 1 visit with mental health code within 30 d of discharge |
| Optimal primary care contacts | A | 3+ primary care visits for depression after starting new antidepressant in primary care |
| No primary care follow-up | A | 0 primary care visits for depression during 6 months after starting new antidepressant in primary care |
| Mental health collaboration | A | 1+ visits with mental health clinician after starting new antidepressant in primary care |
| Safety | ||
| Emergency department visits | A, B | 1+ emergency department visit in that year |
| Emergency department visit or hospitalization for mental health | A, B | 1+ emergency department visit or hospitalization with a mental health code |
| Timeliness | ||
| Prompt follow-up on new medication | A | Follow-up visit with depression code within 30 d of starting a new antidepressant |
| Prompt medication switch follow-up | A, B | Follow-up visit with depression code within 30 d of a switch from one antidepressant to another |
| Patient-centeredness | ||
| Continuity of primary care visits | A, B | Of those with >1 primary care visit, >50% are with 1 primary care clinician |
| Continuity of mental health primary care visits | A, B | Of those with >1 depression visit, >50% are with 1 primary care clinician |
*Depression A = new antidepressant treatment cases; depression B = all depression cases.