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IIR 00-078 – HSR Study

 
IIR 00-078
Telemedicine Intervention to Improve Depression Care in Rural CBOCs
John C. Fortney, PhD
Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System , Little Rock, AR
Little Rock, AR
Jeffrey Pyne MD
Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System , Little Rock, AR
Little Rock, AR
Funding Period: July 2002 - March 2006
Portfolio Assignment: Research Methods Development
BACKGROUND/RATIONALE:
Implementing collaborative care for depression in small rural Primary Care (PC) practices without on-site mental health specialists presents unique challenges. We adapted the collaborative care model using telemedicine (e.g., telephone, interactive video, electronic medical records) to support antidepressant therapy initiated by PC providers in small rural practices. The Telemedicine Enhanced Antidepressant Management (TEAM) collaborative care intervention is implemented by offsite personnel including a Nurse Depression Manager, Clinical Pharmacist, and Consult Psychiatrists. The TEAM intervention has seven main components targeting the CBOC Primary Care Provider (PCP) and the patient: 1) academic detailing, 2) screening to establish caseness for major depressive disorder (MDD), 3) patient education/activation and barrier assessment/resolution, 4) outcomes monitoring and feedback, 5) medication management, 6) psychiatric consultation, and 7) treatment recommendations. All of these components are implemented using telemedicine technologies. Screening, patient education/activation and barrier assessment/resolution, symptom and medication monitoring, and medication management are conducted by telephone. Patient educational materials and provider toolkits are available on the TEAM website. Academic detailing and psychiatric consultations are conducted via interactive video. Feedback and treatment recommendations are provided to PCPs using electronic medical records.

OBJECTIVE(S):
Specific Aim 1: Determine whether the TEAM intervention improves quality and outcomes compared to usual care. Specific Aim 2: Determine whether the TEAM intervention will be cost-effective in routine practice settings.

METHODS:
Seven CBOCs in MS, AR, LA and TX are participating in the study. CBOCs were included if they 1) treated >1,000 and <5,000 unique veterans, 2) had no on-site psychiatrists, and 3) had interactive video equipment. . CBOCs were pair-matched by parent VAMC and then randomized to receive the intervention or usual care. Of the 24,882 clinic patients, 73.6% (n=18,306) were successfully screened and 6.9% screened positive for depression (PHQ9 =12). Patients were considered ineligible if they were already being seen in mental health, had acute suicide ideation, schizophrenia, mania, substance dependence (but not abuse), cognitive impairment, bereavement, were pregnant, had a guardian, or did not expect to receive treatment at the clinic during the course of the next year. Of those eligible for the study, 91.3% agreed to participate, and 91.9% of those attended their appointment and were consented. Over an 18-month period, 395 patients were enrolled, and 91.1% (n=360) were followed-up at six months. Telephone research interviews were conducted at baseline, six and twelve months. Hypotheses for Specific Aim 1 will be tested using an intent-to-treat analysis with patients defined as the unit of analysis. There will be 98% power to detect a 20% difference in the proportion of patients responding to treatment (i.e., 50% decrease in severity). The cost-effectiveness analysis will be conducted from the perspective of both the VA and society, and will include intervention costs, encounter/ancillary costs, and patient costs.

FINDINGS/RESULTS:
The sample comprised mostly elderly low-income males who had an average of 5.5 chronic physical health illnesses. On average, subjects had moderate depression severity at baseline, 3.7 prior depression episodes, and 61% were receiving depression treatment prior to study enrollment. Compared to patients at usual care sites, intervention patients were equally as likely to receive antidepressant therapy. Compared to patients at usual care sites, intervention patients reported better medication adherence at both six (OR=2.0, p=0.04) and twelve months (OR=2.1, p=0.02). Intervention patients were more likely to experience a response to treatment at six months (OR=1.9, p=0.02), and were more likely to experience remission at twelve months (OR=2.4, p=0.02). Intervention patients reported larger increases in MCS scores at twelve months (p<0.01). Intervention patients also reported larger increases in quality of life at six months (p<0.01). Intervention patients reported higher satisfaction at both six (p=0.01) and twelve months (p=0.03). The intervention also significantly increased Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALY) based on the Quality of Well Being Scale (p=0.03) and the SF12V (p=0.01).

IMPACT:
VA leadership has committed to widespread implementation of collaborative care throughout the VA health care system in response to the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. These results suggest that collaborative care models can be successfully adapted using telemedicine to address rural health disparities. These results provide the evidence-base needed to justify the implementation of telemedicine-based collaborative care models in the hundreds of small rural CBOCs that do not have on-site mental health specialists.


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PUBLICATIONS:

Journal Articles

  1. Fortney JC, Maciejewski ML, Tripathi SP, Deen TL, Pyne JM. A budget impact analysis of telemedicine-based collaborative care for depression. Medical care. 2011 Sep 1; 49(9):872-80. [view]
  2. Grubbs KM, Fortney JC, Pyne J, Mittal D, Ray J, Hudson TJ. A Comparison of Collaborative Care Outcomes in Two Health Care Systems: VA Clinics and Federally Qualified Health Centers. Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.). 2018 Apr 1; 69(4):431-437. [view]
  3. Fortney JC, Pyne JM, Steven CA, Williams JS, Hedrick RG, Lunsford AK, Raney WN, Ackerman BA, Ducker LO, Bonner LM, Smith JL. A Web-based clinical decision support system for depression care management. The American journal of managed care. 2010 Nov 1; 16(11):849-54. [view]
  4. Edlund MJ, Fortney JC, Reaves CM, Pyne JM, Mittal D. Beliefs about depression and depression treatment among depressed veterans. Medical care. 2008 Jun 1; 46(6):581-9. [view]
  5. Pyne JM, Fortney JC, Tripathi SP, Maciejewski ML, Edlund MJ, Williams DK. Cost-effectiveness analysis of a rural telemedicine collaborative care intervention for depression. Archives of general psychiatry. 2010 Aug 1; 67(8):812-21. [view]
  6. Fortney JC, Pyne JM, Edlund MJ, Robinson DE, Mittal D, Henderson KL. Design and implementation of the telemedicine-enhanced antidepressant management study. General hospital psychiatry. 2006 Jan 1; 28(1):18-26. [view]
  7. Davis TD, Deen T, Bryant-Bedell K, Tate V, Fortney J. Does minority racial-ethnic status moderate outcomes of collaborative care for depression? Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.). 2011 Nov 1; 62(11):1282-8. [view]
  8. Mittal D, Fortney JC, Pyne JM. Impact of comorbid anxiety disorders on health-related quality of life among patients with major depressive disorder. Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.). 2006 Dec 1; 57(12):1731-7. [view]
  9. Fortney JC, Pyne JM, Burgess JF. Population-level cost-effectiveness of implementing evidence-based practices into routine care. Health services research. 2014 Dec 1; 49(6):1832-51. [view]
  10. Mittal D, Fortney JC, Pyne JM, Wetherell JL. Predictors of persistence of comorbid generalized anxiety disorder among veterans with major depressive disorder. The Journal of clinical psychiatry. 2011 Nov 1; 72(11):1445-51. [view]
  11. Fortney JC, Pyne JM, Edlund MJ, Stecker T, Mittal D, Robinson DE, Henderson KL. Reasons for antidepressant nonadherence among veterans treated in primary care clinics. The Journal of clinical psychiatry. 2011 Jun 1; 72(6):827-34. [view]
  12. Fortney JC, Pyne JM, Edlund MJ, Mittal D. Relationship between antidepressant medication possession and treatment response. General hospital psychiatry. 2010 Jul 1; 32(4):377-9. [view]
  13. Deen TL, Fortney JC, Pyne JM. Relationship between satisfaction, patient-centered care, adherence and outcomes among patients in a collaborative care trial for depression. Administration and policy in mental health. 2011 Sep 1; 38(5):345-55. [view]
Conference Presentations

  1. Fortney JC, Davis A, Hedrick R, Steven C, Raney W, Smith J, Pyne J. A Decision Support System for Depression Care Management. Presented at: National Institute of Mental Health Mental Health Services Research Annual Conference; 2007 Jul 23; Washington, DC. [view]
  2. Maciejewski ML. CBOC Utilization and Cost Data from DSS: Can we Believe what we see? Paper presented at: VA HSR&D National Meeting; 2005 Feb 14; Baltimore, MD. [view]
  3. Pyne JM. Cost Effectiveness Analysis of Rural Telemedicine Collaborative Care Intervention for Depression. Paper presented at: VA HSR&D National Meeting; 2007 Feb 22; Arlington, VA. [view]
  4. Chapko MK, Liu CF, Perkins M, Li YF, Maciejewski ML. Equivalence of Two Health Care Costing Methods: Micro-Costing and Cost Functions. Paper presented at: International Health Economics Association Biennial World Congress on Health Economics; 2005 Jul 13; Barcelona, Spain. [view]
  5. Fortney JC, Pyne JM, Maciejewski M, Tripathi S. Indirect Effect of Telemedicine-Based Collaborative Care in Outpatient Utilization and Costs. Paper presented at: VA HSR&D Field-Based Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders Meeting; 2010 Apr 28; Little Rock, AR. [view]
  6. Maciejewski ML, Liu CF. Make or Buy to Provide Primary Care in the VA Health Care System. Paper presented at: International Health Economics Association Biennial World Congress on Health Economics; 2005 Jul 2; Barcelona, Spain. [view]
  7. Davis TD, Bryant-Bedell K, Deen T, Fortney JC. Racial Differences in Treatment Response to a Depression Intervention. Paper presented at: VA HSR&D National Meeting; 2011 Feb 18; National Harbor, MD. [view]
  8. Fortney JC, Pyne JM. Relationship Between Satisfaction, Patient-centered Care, Adherence, and Outcomes Among Patients in a Collaborative Care Trial for Depression. Paper presented at: VA HSR&D Field-Based Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders Meeting; 2010 Apr 29; Little Rock, AR. [view]
  9. Fortney J. Telemedicine Based Collaborative Care to Reduce Rural Disparities. Paper presented at: VA HSR&D National Meeting; 2006 Feb 16; Arlington, VA. [view]
  10. Fortney JC, Pyne JM, Edlund M, Robinson D, Mittal D, Henderson KL. Telemedicine Enhanced Antidepressant Management Study (TEAM). Paper presented at: National Association for Rural Mental Health Annual Conference; 2005 Aug 1; Honolulu, HI. [view]
  11. Fortney JC, Pyne JM, Robinson D, Mittal D, Henderson KL, Edlund MJ. Telemedicine Enhanced Antidepressant Management Study: Preliminary Results. Paper presented at: VA HSR&D Network Directors Meeting; 2004 Mar 1; Washington, DC. [view]
  12. Fortney JC, Pyne JM. Telemedicine intervention to improve depression care in rural CBOCs. Paper presented at: VA MIRECC Annual Conference; 2003 May 4; Portland, OR. [view]
  13. Fortney JC, Pyne JM, Edlund M, Henderson KL, Mittal D, Robinson D. Telemedicine intervention to improve depression care in rural CBOCs. Paper presented at: AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting; 2005 Jun 26; Boston, MA. [view]
  14. Fortney JC, Pyne JM. Telemedicine-Based Collaborative Care. Paper presented at: AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting; 2010 Jun 27; Boston, MA. [view]
  15. Fortney JC, Pyne JM, Edlund MJ, Robinson D, Mittal D, Henderson KL. Telemedicine-based collaborative care for rural depression care. Paper presented at: National Institute of Mental Health Mental Health Services Research Annual Conference; 2005 Jul 26; Washington, DC. [view]
  16. Maciejewski ML. Utilization and Expenditures of Veterans Obtaining Primary Care at VAMC's and CBOC's. Paper presented at: VA HSR&D National Meeting; 2005 Feb 1; Baltimore, MD. [view]
  17. Grubbs KM, Pyne JM, Fortney JC. Veteran and civilian outcomes of telemedicine-based collaborative care. Paper presented at: Anxiety and Depression Association of America Anxiety Disorders and Depression Conference; 2014 Mar 29; Chicago, IL. [view]


DRA: Health Systems Science
DRE: Epidemiology, Treatment - Observational
Keywords: Depression, Rural, Telemedicine
MeSH Terms: none

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