Depression in primary care: bringing behavioral health care into the mainstream

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's national program, Depression in Primary Care: Linking Clinical and Systems Strategies, funds three related components to stimulate innovation in primary depression care. The incentives, value, and leadership components evaluate and implement strategies for financing and sustaining use of clinical best practices despite barriers created by economic and organizational structures that fragment behavioral and general health care. A challenge for policymakers is how to link depression care with the management of other chronic conditions, so that they are integrated into the quality improvement agenda of purchasers, payers, and providers without becoming submerged in health care's mainstream.