The Article in Brief

This study provides the first evidence that when depressed patients are cared for in the primary care doctor’s office for an extended period, they have better results, and the treatment becomes less costly. In this study, depressed patients were encouraged to take part in active treatment and received regularly scheduled care for 2 years. These patients had more depression-free days than patients who received regular care. The care was found to be cost-effective and, according to the authors, is an efficient use of health care resources. The authors encourage health plans to provide for long- rather than short-term depression management.