Improving Depression Screening in Primary Care with Health IT at UCLA

Jessica Jeffrey, MD, MPH, Associate Director, Clara Lin, MD, Internal Medicine-Pediatrics Specialist and Physician Informaticist, and Rachel Linonis, MS, Director Digital Solutions, UCLA Division of Population Behavioral Health at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior.  The high prevalence of under-recognized and costly behavioral health conditions, coupled with the rise of accountable care organizations and population health-based reimbursement models, has led many health systems – including UCLA Health – to adopt innovative ways to identify and treat behavioral health conditions. Our team implemented a universal depression screening program in UCLA Primary Care Clinics and achieved a four-fold increase in depression screening in one year by: 1) building customized and integrated information-technology tools, 2) implementing robust operational workflows for screening, 3) increasing physician and staff awareness through both online- and live- trainings to the clinics, and 4) ensuring that incentives are aligned for scalability.