The New York State Collaborative Care Initiative: 2012-2014

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Psychiatry
• Primary Care Medicine

Background:

• Depression is a prevalent condition often undertreated in primary care settings.
• Integrating mental health services into primary care can improve access and reduce stigma.
• The NYS Collaborative Care Initiative (NYS-CCI) aimed to address these challenges through a structured program.

Purpose of the Study:

• To report on the implementation and outcomes of the NYS Collaborative Care Initiative (NYS-CCI).
• To evaluate the effectiveness of integrating depression care into primary medical care across multiple academic centers.
• To identify critical actions for successful scaling-up of Collaborative Care (CC) models.

Main Methods:

• A partnership between the NYS Department of Health and Office of Mental Health facilitated the initiative.
• Nineteen NYS academic medical centers adopted the Collaborative Care model based on University of Washington AIMS Center principles.
• Fidelity was measured through screening rates, diagnosis, enrollment, and treatment improvement over 16 weeks.

Main Results:

• Significant and progressive performance improvements were observed across participating sites serving over 1 million patients.
• The initiative demonstrated successful integration of depression care into primary medical settings.
• Participating clinics reported high satisfaction with the Collaborative Care model.

Conclusions:

• The NYS-CCI successfully demonstrated the feasibility and effectiveness of integrating depression care into primary medical settings.
• The Collaborative Care model shows promise for improving depression management in large patient populations.
• Recommendations are provided for the successful implementation and scaling-up of CC models in other states.