Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #121668

Eric N. Goplerud, PhD, Department of Health Policy, George Washington University, 2021 K Street, NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20006, 202-530-2302, goplerud@gwu.edu

Major employers and state and regional business health coalitions have joined in a nationwide approach to assess directly the quality of services to address unipolar depression in 90 health plans through eValue8, an initiative sponsored by the National Business Coalition on Health (NBCH). NBCH, representing more than 7000 employer members nationwide employing 3-4 million people, oversees a uniform, annual assessment of the quality of care for a range of health concerns provided by health plans. The coalition recently introduced a new focus on the quality of depression screening and treatment by health plans. Through questionnaires and site visits, all of the health plans were asked to provide the same information about their use of clinical practice guidelines, screening instruments, and member education about depression. This presentation will examine the criteria used to develop quality guidance on depression for the NBCH, and the implications of this initiative for improving the responsiveness of employer-sponsored health care to individuals with Axis I disorders.

Learning Objectives:

• 1. Awareness of the function of the NBCH and its quality of care assessments.
• 2. Identification of barriers encountered to incorporating criteria for quality guidance on depression screening and care into a more generalized health care quality assessment.
• 3. Identification of the range of implications for using the data derived from this assessment program in the improvement of employer-financed screening and care for Axis I disorders.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation