The Focus on ME, Mental Health is Essential Health project is seeking primary care practices (PCPs), including Ohio Comprehensive Primary Care (CPC) practices, to participate in a quality improvement (QI) initiative which aims to improve care related to anxiety and depression for women of reproductive age in Ohio. Specifically, this effort seeks to screen women for anxiety and depression and connect them to the appropriate treatment and resources.
This project is funded by the Ohio Department of Health and the Medicaid Technical Assistance and Policy Program (MEDTAPP) through the Ohio Department of Medicaid, and administered by The Ohio Colleges of Medicine Government Resource Center. Fifteen to 20 high-volume Medicaid PCP and/or CPC sites will be engaged to participate in this QI project beginning in February 2022 and continuing through February 2023.
- Assemble a core QI group to attend monthly calls to share best practices while learning from peers
- Implement a clinical change package and disseminate free educational consumer resources
- Participate in regular data collection activities
- Commit to testing and adapting interventions using Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles related to identifying, screening, and managing treatment plans for women with anxiety and depression
- Engage in monthly site-specific QI coaching opportunities.
We estimate that all activities will take about 4-5 hours per month among all team members and seek to integrate the QI activities into daily process flow to limit extra work on the teams.
- A $7,000 honorarium to support data collection efforts
- Continuing medical education credits*
- Improved processes for assessing and identifying women of reproductive age at risk for anxiety and depression
- Guidance/tools on implementing proven strategies for increasing screening rates for anxiety and depression
- Enhanced anxiety/depression treatment protocols for providing clinical care to women of reproductive age
- Access to complimentary QI resources, including a QI practice coach and QI data on a bi-weekly basis
- Increased care coordination leading to better health outcomes and reduce cost of care.
To learn more about the opportunity, please contact Melissa Leonard or call 614.685.3087 to schedule a brief call at your convenience.
*Application for CME credit has been filed with the American Academy of Family Physicians. Determination of credit is pending.