Partners in Care

CONCLUDED PROJECT - Content no longer updated

An integrated approach to improving care for depression in primary care

Partners in Care (PIC) consists of two quality improvement programs — one focusing on medication, the other on psychotherapy. Both are appropriate for socioeconomically and ethnically diverse populations. Designed to improve the quality of care for depression in managed, primary care practices, the PIC study was carried out in 46 primary care clinics within six diverse, nonacademic managed care plans in five states. The study evaluated two quality-improvement programs based on previous successful collaborative care interventions, each of which cost the same amount to implement.

The two programs proved to be about equally successful. Practices can thus choose either model and, if they wish, can add elements of the one not chosen. However, a fairly complete program may be needed to achieve a good result. RAND can also customize the Partners in Care material for use at your institution.

The Partners in Care package of materials contains all the components needed to implement the quality improvement programs.

This site provides:

• An overview of Partners in Care
• Findings from the evaluation of the PIC programs
  • Partners in Care: Hope for Those Who Struggle with Hope
  • The Societal Promise of Improving Care for Depression
• A convenient way to order program materials.
• Full text of all intervention documents.