Understanding and Navigating the Unique Barriers Rural Primary Care Settings Face when Implementing Collaborative Care for Mental Health.

Rural primary care (RPC) clinics may face unique barriers to implementing the Collaborative Care Model (CoCM). We used mixed methods to explore RPC staff and practice facilitator (PF) perspectives on CoCM implementation. PFs reported on barriers and facilitators experienced after each monthly meeting with clinics (n = 459 surveys across 23 clinics). Data were analyzed descriptively and informed qualitative interviews with a purposive sample (n = 11) of clinic staff and PFs. Interviews were analyzed using Rapid Assessment Process and triangulated with quantitative data. The most prominent barriers experienced were: (1) the COVID-19 pandemic, (2) limited availability of site staff to participate in implementation activities, and (3) hiring of new CoCM staff. Qualitative data further characterized the ways these barriers uniquely influenced RPC settings and promising implementation strategies. RPC settings face unique challenges to CoCM implementation, but several promising implementation strategies - when tailored to RPC contexts - may help.

The Patient Mania Questionnaire (PMQ-9): a Brief Scale for Assessing and Monitoring Manic Symptoms.

BACKGROUND: Measurement-based care is an effective clinical strategy underutilized for bipolar disorder partly due to lacking a widely adopted patient-reported manic symptom measure. OBJECTIVE: To report development and psychometric properties of a brief patient-reported manic symptom measure. DESIGN: Secondary analysis of data collected in a randomized effectiveness trial comparing two treatments for 1004 primary care patients screening positive for bipolar disorder and/or PTSD. PARTICIPANTS: Two analytic samples included 114 participants with varied diagnoses and test-retest data, and 179 participants with psychiatrist-diagnosed bipolar disorder who had two or more assessments with the nine-item Patient Mania Questionnaire-9 [PMQ-9]). MAIN MEASURES: Internal and test-retest reliability, concurrent validity, and sensitivity to change were assessed. Minimally important difference (MID) was estimated by standard error of measurement (SEM) and by standard deviation (SD) effect sizes. KEY RESULTS: The PMQ-9 had high internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.88) and test-retest reliability (0.85). Concurrent validity correlation with manic symptom measures was high for the Internal State Scale-Activation Subscale (0.70; p<0.0001), and lower for the Altman Mania Rating Scale (0.26; p=0.007). Longitudinally, PMQ-9 was completed at 1511 clinical encounters in 179 patients with bipolar disorder. Mean PMQ-9 score at first and last encounters was 14.5 (SD 6.5) and 10.1 (SD 7.0), a 27% decrease in mean score during treatment, suggesting sensitivity to change. A point estimate of the MID was approximately 3 points (range of 2-4). CONCLUSIONS: The PMQ-9 demonstrated excellent test-retest reliability, concurrent validity, internal consistency, and sensitivity to change and was widely used and acceptable to patients and clinicians in a pragmatic clinical trial. Combined with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) measure of depressive symptoms this brief measure could inform measurement-based care for individuals with bipolar disorder in primary care and mental health care settings given its ease of administration and familiar self-report response format.

An Update on Telepsychiatry and How It Can Leverage Collaborative, Stepped, and Integrated Services to Primary Care.

INTRODUCTION: In this era of patient-centered care, telepsychiatry (TP; video or synchronous) provides quality care with outcomes as good as in-person care, facilitates access to care, and leverages a wide range of treatments at a distance. METHOD: This conceptual review article explores TP as applied to newer models of care (e.g., collaborative, stepped, and integrated care). RESULTS: The field of psychosomatic medicine (PSM) has developed clinical care models, educates interdisciplinary team members, and provides leadership to clinical teams. PSM is uniquely positioned to steer TP and implement other telebehavioral health care options (e.g., e-mail/telephone, psych/mental health apps) in the future in primary care. Together, PSM and TP provide versatility to health systems by enabling more patient points-of-entry, matching patient needs with provider skills, and helping providers work at the top of their licenses. TP and other technologies make collaborative, stepped, and integrated care less costly and more accessible. CONCLUSION: Effective health care delivery matches the intensity of the services to the needs of a patient population or clinic, standardizes interventions, and evaluates both process and clinical outcomes. More research is indicated on the application of TP and other technologies to these service delivery models.

Applying the Principles for Digital Development: Case Study of a Smartphone App to Support Collaborative Care for Rural Patients With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder or Bipolar Disorder.

BACKGROUND: Despite a proliferation of patient-facing mobile apps for mental disorders, there is little literature guiding efforts to incorporate mobile tools into clinical care delivery and integrate patient-generated data into care processes for patients with complex psychiatric disorders. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to seek to gain an understanding of how to incorporate a patient-provider mobile health (mHealth) platform to support the delivery of integrated primary care-based mental health services (Collaborative Care) to rural patients with posttraumatic stress disorder and/or bipolar disorder. METHODS: Using the Principles for Digital Development as a framework, we describe our experience designing, developing, and deploying a mobile system to support Collaborative Care. The system consists of a patient-facing smartphone app that integrates with a Web-based clinical patient registry used by behavioral health care managers and consulting psychiatrists. Throughout development, we engaged representatives from the system's two user types: (1) providers, who use the Web-based registry and (2) patients, who directly use the mobile app. We extracted mobile metadata to describe the early adoption and use of the system by care managers and patients and report preliminary results from an in-app patient feedback survey that includes a System Usability Scale (SUS). RESULTS: Each of the nine Principles for Digital Development is illustrated with examples. The first 10 patients to use the smartphone app have completed symptom measures on average every 14 days over an average period of 20 weeks. The mean SUS score at week 8 among four patients who completed this measure was 91.9 (range 72.5-100). We present lessons learned about the technical and training requirements for integration into practice that can inform future efforts to incorporate health technologies to improve care for patients with psychiatric conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Adhering to the Principles for Digital Development, we created and deployed an mHealth system to support Collaborative Care for patients with complex psychiatric conditions in rural health centers. Preliminary data among the initial users support high system usability and show promise for sustained use. On the basis of our experience, we propose five additional principles to extend this framework and inform future efforts to incorporate health technologies to improve care for patients with psychiatric conditions: design for public health impact, add value for all users, test the product and the process, acknowledge disruption, and anticipate variability.

Comparing Approaches to Mobile Depression Assessment for Measurement-Based Care: Prospective Study.

BACKGROUND: To inform measurement-based care, practice guidelines suggest routine symptom monitoring, often on a weekly or monthly basis. Increasingly, patient-provider contacts occur remotely (eg, by telephone and Web-based portals), and mobile health tools can now monitor depressed mood daily or more frequently. However, the reliability and utility of daily ratings are unclear. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the association between a daily depressive symptom measure and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the most widely adopted depression self-report measure, and compare how well these 2 assessment methods predict patient outcomes. METHODS: A total of 547 individuals completed smartphone-based measures, including the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2) modified for daily administration, the PHQ-9, and the Sheehan Disability Scale. Multilevel factor analyses evaluated the reliability of latent depression based on the PHQ-2 (for repeated measures) between weeks 2 and 4 and its correlation with the PHQ-9 at week 4. Regression models predicted week 8 depressive symptoms and disability ratings with daily PHQ-2 and PHQ-9. RESULTS: The daily PHQ-2 and PHQ-9 are highly reliable (range: 0.80-0.88) and highly correlated (r=.80). Findings were robust across demographic groups (age, gender, and ethnic minority status). Daily PHQ-2 and PHQ-9 were comparable in predicting week 8 disability and were independent predictors of week 8 depressive symptoms and disability, though the unique contribution of the PHQ-2 was small in magnitude. CONCLUSIONS: Daily completion of the PHQ-2 is a reasonable proxy for the PHQ-9 and is comparable to the PHQ-9 in predicting future outcomes. Mobile assessment methods offer researchers and clinicians reliable and valid new methods for depression assessment that may be leveraged for measurement-based depression care.

Digital technology and clinical decision making in depression treatment: Current findings and future opportunities.

Clinical decision making encompasses a broad set of processes that contribute to the effectiveness of depression treatments. There is emerging interest in using digital technologies to support effective and efficient clinical decision making. In this paper, we provide "snapshots" of research and current directions on ways that digital technologies can support clinical decision making in depression treatment. Practical facets of clinical decision making are reviewed, then research, design, and implementation opportunities where technology can potentially enhance clinical decision making are outlined. Discussions of these opportunities are organized around three established movements designed to enhance clinical decision making for depression treatment, including measurement-based care, integrated care, and personalized medicine. Research, design, and implementation efforts may support clinical decision making for depression by (1) improving tools to incorporate depression symptom data into existing electronic health record systems, (2) enhancing measurement of treatment fidelity and treatment processes, (3) harnessing smartphone and biosensor data to inform clinical decision making, (4) enhancing tools that support communication and care coordination between patients and providers and within provider teams, and (5) leveraging treatment and outcome data from electronic health record systems to support personalized depression treatment. The current climate of rapid changes in both healthcare and digital technologies facilitates an urgent need for research, design, and implementation of digital technologies that explicitly support clinical decision making. Ensuring that such tools are efficient, effective, and usable in frontline treatment settings will be essential for their success and will require engagement of stakeholders from multiple domains.

Opioid poisonings in Washington State Medicaid: trends, dosing, and guidelines.

BACKGROUND: Opioid poisonings have increased as use of prescription opioid medications have increased. To reduce these poisonings, guidelines for chronic opioid use have been implemented. However, if opioid poisonings occur in individuals who do not have high prescribed doses and who are not chronic opioid users, the current guidelines may need revision. OBJECTIVES: To examine changes in rates of methadone and other opioid poisonings after implementation of the WA State Opioid Guideline in 2007 and to examine the prescription history before poisonings. METHODS: The study sample consisted of individuals who had at least 1 paid claim for an opioid prescription in the Medicaid fee-for-service system between April 2006 and December 2010 and had an emergency department or inpatient hospital claim for an opioid poisoning. RESULTS: Methadone poisonings occurred at 10 times the rate of other prescription opioid poisonings and increased between 2006 and 2010. Rates of other prescription opioid poisonings appeared to level off after implementation of the WA opioid guideline in 2007. Among individuals with nonmethadone opioid poisonings, only 44% had chronic opioid use, 17% had prescribed doses in the week before the poisoning >120 mg/d morphine-equivalent dose (MED), 28% had doses <50 mg/d MED, and 48% had concurrent sedative prescriptions. CONCLUSIONS: It may be prudent to revise guidelines to address opioid poisonings occurring at relatively low prescribed doses and with acute and intermittent opioid use. Research is needed to establish the best strategies to prevent opioid poisonings.

Effectiveness of the Engagement and Counseling for Latinos (ECLA) intervention in low-income Latinos.

BACKGROUND: Persistent disparities in access and quality of mental health care for Latinos indicate a need for evidence-based, culturally adapted, and outside-the-clinic-walls treatments. OBJECTIVE: Evaluate treatment effectiveness of telephone (ECLA-T) or face-to-face (ECLA-F) delivery of a 6-8 session cognitive behavioral therapy and care management intervention for low-income Latinos, as compared to usual care for depression. DESIGN: Multisite randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Eight community health clinics in Boston, Massachusetts and San Juan, Puerto Rico. PARTICIPANTS: 257 Latino patients recruited from primary care between May 2011 and September 2012. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was severity of depression, assessed with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-20. The secondary outcome was functioning over the previous 30 days, measured using the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHO-DAS 2.0). RESULTS: Both telephone and face-to-face versions of the Engagement and Counseling for Latinos (ECLA) were more effective than usual care. The effect sizes of both intervention conditions on Patient Health Questionnaire-9 were moderate when combined data from both sites are analyzed (0.56 and 0.64 for face-to-face and telephone, respectively). Similarly, effect sizes of ECLA-F and ECLA-T on the Hopkins Symptom Checklist were quite large in the Boston site (0.64 and 0.73. respectively) but not in Puerto Rico (0.10 and 0.03). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The intervention appears to help Latino patients reduce depressive symptoms and improve functioning. Of particular importance is the higher treatment initiation for the telephone versus face-to-face intervention (89.7% vs. 78.8%), which suggests that telephone-based care may improve access and quality of care.

Associations between antidepressant adherence and shared decision-making, patient-provider trust, and communication among adults with diabetes: diabetes study of Northern California (DISTANCE).

BACKGROUND: Depression and adherence to antidepressant treatment are important clinical concerns in diabetes care. While patient-provider communication patterns have been associated with adherence for cardiometabolic medications, it is unknown whether interpersonal aspects of care impact antidepressant medication adherence. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether shared decision-making, patient-provider trust, or communication are associated with early stage and ongoing antidepressant adherence. DESIGN: Observational new prescription cohort study. SETTING: Kaiser Permanente Northern California. PATIENTS: One thousand five hundred twenty-three adults with type 2 diabetes who completed a survey in 2006 and received a new antidepressant prescription during 2006-2010. MEASUREMENTS: Exposures included items based on the Trust in Physicians and Interpersonal Processes of Care instruments and the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) communication scale. Measures of adherence were estimated using validated methods with physician prescribing and pharmacy dispensing data: primary non-adherence (medication never dispensed), early non-persistence (dispensed once, never refilled), and new prescription medication gap (NPMG; proportion of time without medication during 12 months after initial prescription). RESULTS: After adjusting for potential confounders, patients' perceived lack of shared decision-making was significantly associated with primary non-adherence (RR = 2.42, p < 0.05), early non-persistence (RR = 1.34, p < 0.01) and NPMG (estimated 5% greater gap in medication supply, p < 0.01). Less trust in provider was significantly associated with early non-persistence (RRs 1.22-1.25, ps < 0.05) and NPMG (estimated NPMG differences 5-8%, ps < 0.01). LIMITATIONS: All patients were insured and had consistent access to and quality of care. CONCLUSIONS: Patients' perceptions of their relationships with providers, including lack of shared decision-making or trust, demonstrated strong associations with antidepressant non-adherence. Further research should explore whether interventions for healthcare providers and systems that foster shared decision-making and trust might also improve medication adherence.

Aligning health information technologies with effective service delivery models to improve chronic disease care.

OBJECTIVE: Healthcare reforms in the United States, including the Affordable Care and HITECH Acts, and the NCQA criteria for the Patient Centered Medical Home have promoted health information technology (HIT) and the integration of general medical and mental health services. These developments, which aim to improve chronic disease care, have largely occurred in parallel, with little attention to the need for coordination. In this article, the fundamental connections between HIT and improvements in chronic disease management are explored. We use the evidence-based collaborative care model as an example, with attention to health literacy improvement for supporting patient engagement in care. METHOD: A review of the literature was conducted to identify how HIT and collaborative care, an evidence-based model of chronic disease care, support each other. RESULTS: Five key principles of effective collaborative care are outlined: care is patient-centered, evidence-based, measurement-based, population-based, and accountable. The potential role of HIT in implementing each principle is discussed. Key features of the mobile health paradigm are described, including how they can extend evidence-based treatment beyond traditional clinical settings. CONCLUSION: HIT, and particularly mobile health, can enhance collaborative care interventions, and thus improve the health of individuals and populations when deployed in integrated delivery systems.

Characteristics, management, and depression outcomes of primary care patients who endorse thoughts of death or suicide on the PHQ-9.

BACKGROUND: With increasing emphasis on integrating behavioral health services, primary care providers play an important role in managing patients with suicidal thoughts. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) Item 9 scores are associated with patient characteristics, management, and depression outcomes in a primary care-based mental health program. DESIGN: Observational analysis of data collected from a patient registry. PARTICIPANTS: Eleven thousand fifteen adults enrolled in the Mental Health Integration Program (MHIP). INTERVENTIONS: MHIP provides integrated mental health services for safety-net populations in over 100 community health centers across Washington State. Key elements of the team-based model include: a disease registry; integrated care management; and organized psychiatric case review. MAIN MEASURES: The independent variable, suicidal ideation (SI), was assessed by PHQ-9 Item 9. Depression severity was assessed with the PHQ-8. Outcomes included four indicators of depression treatment process (care manager contact, psychiatric case review, psychotropic medications, and specialty mental health referral), and two indicators of depression outcomes (50 % reduction in PHQ-9 score and PHQ-9 score < 10). KEY RESULTS: SI was common (45.2 %) at baseline, with significantly higher rates among men and patients with greater psychopathology. Few patients with SI (5.4 %) lacked substantial current depressive symptoms. After adjusting for age, gender, and severity of psychopathology, patients with SI received follow-up earlier (care manager contact HR = 1.05, p < 0.001; psychiatric review HR = 1.02, p < 0.05), and were more likely to receive psychotropic medications (OR = 1.11, p = 0.001) and specialty referral (OR = 1.23, p < 0.001), yet were less likely to achieve a PHQ-9 score < 10 (HR = 0.87, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Suicidal thoughts are common among safety-net patients referred by primary care providers for behavioral health care. Scores on Item 9 of the PHQ-9 are easily obtainable in primary care, may help providers initiate conversations about suicidality, and serve as useful markers of psychiatric complexity and treatment-resistance. Patients with positive scores should receive timely and comprehensive psychiatric evaluation and follow-up.

Health literacy and antidepressant medication adherence among adults with diabetes: the diabetes study of Northern California (DISTANCE).

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have reported that health literacy limitations are associated with poorer disease control for chronic conditions, but have not evaluated potential associations with medication adherence. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether health literacy limitations are associated with poorer antidepressant medication adherence. DESIGN: Observational new prescription cohort follow-up study. PARTICIPANTS: Adults with type 2 diabetes who completed a survey in 2006 and received a new antidepressant prescription during 2006-2010 (N = 1,366) at Kaiser Permanente Northern California. MAIN MEASURES: Validated three-item self-report scale measured health literacy. Discrete indices of adherence based on pharmacy dispensing data according to validated methods: primary non-adherence (medication never dispensed); early non-persistence (dispensed once, never refilled); non-persistence at 180 and 365 days; and new prescription medication gap (NPMG; proportion of time that the person is without medication during 12 months after the prescription date). KEY RESULTS: Seventy-two percent of patients were classified as having health literacy limitations. After adjusting for sociodemographic and clinical covariates, patients with health literacy limitations had significantly poorer adherence compared to patients with no limitations, whether measured as early non-persistence (46 % versus 38 %, p < 0.05), non-persistence at 180 days (55 % versus 46 %, p < 0.05), or NPMG (41 % versus 36%, p < 0.01). There were no significant associations with primary adherence or non-persistence at 365 days. CONCLUSIONS: Poorer antidepressant adherence among adults with diabetes and health literacy limitations may jeopardize the continuation and maintenance phases of depression pharmacotherapy. Findings underscore the importance of national efforts to address health literacy, simplify health communications regarding treatment options, improve public understanding of depression treatment, and monitor antidepressant adherence.

Specialty behavioral health service use among chronically ill medicare advantage patients with substance use problems.

OBJECTIVE: This study examines the use of substance abuse and mental health services among older adults with substance use disorders. METHODS: Participants were members of Humana Cares, a subsidiary of Humana, Inc., a care management program for chronically ill Medicare Advantage members, between 2008 and 2010. All adults aged 65 and older with a substance use disorder identified with International Classification of Diseases-9 codes were included. We compared utilization of substance abuse and mental health services among participants with no psychiatric comorbidity (n = 585), with comorbid depression (n = 605), and with comorbid severe and persistent mental illness (severe and persistent mental illness, n = 95). RESULTS: Twenty-eight percent utilized substance abuse services and 36% utilized mental health services. After adjusting for covariates, comorbid depression (odds ratio = 4.27, 95% confidence interval: 3.22-5.65) and severe and persistent mental illness (odds ratio = 10.75, 95% confidence interval: 5.22-20.13) were independently associated with specialty service use (either substance abuse or mental health services). CONCLUSION: Although few chronically ill older adults with substance use disorders in this Medicare Advantage program received any specialty substance abuse or mental health services, utilization was higher among those who had concurrent psychiatric disorders.

Care managers' experiences in a collaborative care program for high risk mothers with depression.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to understand care managers' experiences in caring for depressed mothers in an integrated behavioral health program. METHODS: As part of a quality improvement project, we conducted a focus group interview with six care managers caring for low income mothers with behavioral health needs in a safety net program in King County, WA. Using thematic analysis, codes were organized into themes that described the care managers' experiences. RESULTS: Two organizing themes along with associated themes emerged: (1) Assets for improving depression outcomes: patient-provider interactions, including the importance of engagement; program resources such as care coordination and (2) Barriers to improved depression outcomes: patient-provider interactions, including difficulty engaging patient; patient-related factors such as multiple stressors; program resources such as need for more psychiatric support; and difficulty accessing outside resources. CONCLUSIONS: Numerous potentially modifiable factors including levels of engagement, motivational interviewing, and increased psychiatric support were identified by care managers as affecting depression care and outcomes. Implications for care management training and approaches to psychiatric consultations are discussed.

Opioid poisonings and opioid adverse effects in workers in Washington state.

OBJECTIVE: To examine trends in opioid poisonings and adverse effects in Washington (WA) State and nationally. METHODS: We calculated rates of opioid poisonings and adverse effects and examined opioid prescriptions in the WA workers' compensation system, 2004-2010. Using Health Care Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) data, we also calculated national rates of opioid poisonings and adverse effects, 1993-2010. RESULTS: We identified 96 opioid poisonings and 312 opioid-related adverse effects in WA, 2004-2010. The rates did not change substantially over these years. Most poisonings and adverse effects occurred in cases without chronic opioid use and with prescribed doses <120 mg/day morphine-equivalent dose. Nationally, the rates of opioid poisonings and adverse effects increased significantly from 1993 to 2010. CONCLUSIONS: Many poisonings and adverse effects occurred in patients without high dose or long-term opioid therapy, suggesting that opioid dosing and duration guidelines may not be sufficient to reduce morbidity related to prescription opioid use.

Effectiveness of Collaborative Care and Colocated Specialty Care for Bipolar Disorder in Primary Care: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial.

BACKGROUND: Individuals with bipolar disorder commonly present for treatment in primary care settings. Collaborative care and colocated specialty care models can improve quality of care and outcomes, though it is unknown which model is more effective. OBJECTIVE: To compare 12-month treatment outcomes for primary care patients with bipolar disorder randomized to treatment with collaborative care or colocated specialty care. METHODS: We conducted a secondary analysis of 191 patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder treated for 12 months during a comparative effectiveness trial in 12 Federally Qualified Health Centers in three states. Characteristics and outcomes were assessed at enrollment and 12 months. The primary outcome was mental health quality of life scores (Veterans RAND 12-Item Health Survey Mental Health Component Summary), and secondary outcomes included depression and anxiety symptom scores, euthymic mood state, and recovery. T-tests and multiple linear and logistic regression models were used. RESULTS: Among participants (mean age: 40 years; 73% women), the Veterans RAND 12-Item Health Survey Mental Health Component Summary increased in both arms over 12 months (baseline: collaborative care 21.99, SD 10.78; colocated specialty 24.15, SD 12.05; 12-month collaborative care 30.63, SD 13.33; colocated specialty 34.16, SD 12.65). The mean Mental Health Component Summary change did not differ by arm (collaborative care: MΔ = 9.09; colocated specialty: MΔ = 10.73; t = -0.67, P = 0.50). Secondary outcomes also improved at 12 months compared to baseline measured by the Hopkins Symptoms Checklist (MΔ = -0.75; SD = 0.85), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (MΔ = -3.92; SD = 6.48), and Recovery Assessment Scale (MΔ = 0.37; SD = 0.65) and did not differ significantly by arm. The proportion of participants with euthymic mood state increased from 11% to 25% with no statistically significant difference by arm. CONCLUSIONS: The effectiveness of collaborative care and that of colocated specialty care were similar. Both were associated with substantial improvements in mental health quality of life and symptom reduction.

Variations in depression care and outcomes among high-risk mothers from different racial/ethnic groups.

UNLABELLED: PURPOSE. To examine variations in depression care and outcomes among high-risk pregnant and parenting women from different racial/ethnic groups served in community health centres. METHODS: As part of a collaborative care programme that provides depression treatment in primary care clinics for high-risk mothers, 661 women with probable depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9 ≥ 10), who self-reported race/ethnicity as Latina (n = 393), White (n = 126), Black (n = 75) or Asian (n = 67), were included in the study. Primary outcomes include quality of depression care and improvement in depression. A Cox proportional hazard model adjusting for sociodemographic and clinical characteristics was used to examine time to treatment response. RESULTS: We observed significant differences in both depression processes and outcomes across ethnic groups. After adjusting for other variables, Blacks were found to be significantly less likely to improve than Latinas [hazard ratio (HR): 0.53, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.44-0.65]. Other factors significantly associated with depression improvement were pregnancy (HR: 1.52, 95% CI: 1.27-1.82), number of clinic visits (HR: 1.26, 95% CI: 1.17-1.36) and phone contacts (HR: 1.45, 95% CI: 1.32-1.60) by the care manager in the first month of treatment. After controlling for depression severity, having suicidal thoughts at baseline was significantly associated with a decreased likelihood of depression improvement (HR: 0.75, 95% CI: 0.67-0.83). CONCLUSIONS: In this racially and ethnically diverse sample of pregnant and parenting women treated for depression in primary care, the intensity of care management was positively associated with improved depression. There was also appreciable variation in depression outcomes between Latina and Black patients.

Care managers' experiences in a collaborative care program for the treatment of bipolar disorder and PTSD in underserved communities.

OBJECTIVES: To understand care managers' experiences treating primary care patients with bipolar disorder and PTSD in a telepsychiatry collaborative care (TCC) program, as part of a large pragmatic trial. METHODS: We conducted individual qualitative interviews with 12 care managers to evaluate barriers and facilitators to implementation of a previously completed TCC intervention for patients with bipolar disorder and/or PTSD. We used directed and conventional content analysis and Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) constructs to organize care manager experiences. RESULTS: Participants described clinical and medication management support from telepsychiatrists and satisfaction with the TCC model as facilitators of success for patients with bipolar disorder and PTSD in underserved communities. Participants also described onboarding of primary care providers and clinic leadership as keys to successful team-care and credited satisfaction with providing Behavioral Activation as essential to sustained delivery of the psychotherapy component of TCC. CONCLUSIONS: Participants described high satisfaction with TCC for patients with bipolar disorder and PTSD. Challenges included lack of clinic leadership and PCP engagement. Early and ongoing promotion of integrated care and prioritizing telepsychiatry consultation with patients, behavioral health professionals and PCPs, may improve patient care, provide ongoing training and improve workforce satisfaction.

Development and Implementation of an Integrated Care Fellowship.

BACKGROUND: Integrated care is a common approach to leverage scarce psychiatric resources to deliver mental health care in primary care settings. OBJECTIVE: Describe a formal clinical fellowship devoted to professional development for the integrated care psychiatrist role. METHODS: The development of a formal year-long clinical fellowship in integrated care is described. The curriculum consists of an Integrated Care Didactic Series, Integrated Care Clinical Skill Experiences, and Integrated Care System-Based Leadership Experiences. Evaluation of impact was assessed with descriptive statistics. RESULTS: We successfully recruited 3 classes of fellows to the Integrated Care Fellowship, with 5 program graduates in the first 3 years. All 5 graduated fellows were hired into integrated care and/or telepsychiatry positions. Integrated Care fellows had a high participation rate in didactics (mean attendance = 80.6%; n = 5). We received a total of 582 didactic evaluations for the 151 didactic sessions. On a scale of 1 (poor) to 6 (fantastic), the mean quality of the interactive learning experience was rated as 5.33 (n = 581) and the mean quality of the talk was 5.35 (n = 582). Rotations were rated with the mean overall teaching quality of 4.98/5 (n = 76 evaluations from 5 fellows). CONCLUSIONS: The Integrated Care clinical fellowship serves as a model for training programs seeking to provide training in clinical and systems-based skills needed for practicing integrated care. Whether such training is undertaken as a standalone fellowship or incorporated into existing consultation-liaison psychiatry programs, such skills are increasingly valuable as integrated care becomes commonplace in practice.