Psychiatric interventions to improve primary care diagnosis and treatment of depression

Primary care physicians underdiagnose and undertreat depression. Interventions by mental health specialists can range from conducting assessments with feedback to ongoing direct or indirect involvement in the patient's treatment. Results of studies testing these various interventions are mixed, They most often show that a mental health presence improves the recognition of depression in primary care settings. Although initial physician prescription and patient use of antidepressants may increase, the subsequent course of pharmacotherapy is generally inadequate in dose or duration. By improving their management of depression in psychiatric settings, mental health specialists can create better models of effective treatment for use in primary care.