Alert: Q4 2017 Depression Screening Initiative

Attention: AMG Primary Care Providers

One of the ACP Quality Committee’s goals for 2017 is to improve the network’s Depression Screening performance for the Medicare population. While patients are typically screened for depression during the Medicare Annual Wellness Visit, a depression screening can be performed at any time during the year. In an effort to improve our network’s rate, a new process is being put in place to also address this metric at follow-up visits. Primary care office nurses have been asked to check the Quality Tab in athena at each follow-up visit to see if the Depression Screening metric has been satisfied. If it has not been satisfied, they will perform the PHQ2/PHQ9 assessment test at that visit. This will ensure that patients who are not scheduled for an Annual Wellness Visit in 2017 will be still screened for depression.