Measurement-Based HEDIS Depression Measures

Measurement-based care is a framework in which validated symptom rating scales and screening tools are routinely used in clinical practice to inform treatment decisions and adjustments. The most widely used tool is the Patient Health Questionnaire nine-item scale (PHQ-9). The PHQ-9 is a multipurpose tool used for screening, diagnosing, monitoring, and measuring the severity of depression symptoms.

The impetus for providers to adopt measure-based care made a significant step forward with the adoption of PHQ-9 based depression measures by NCQA. Two depression measures are critical to effective measurement-based screening and treatment:

• Depression Screening and Follow-up for Adolescents and Adults
  Adapted from a provider-level measure developed by Quality Insights of Pennsylvania (QIP) (NQF #0418, CMS2), first implemented in HEDIS® 2018.

• Depression Remission or Response for Adolescents and Adults
  Adapted from depression measures developed by Minnesota Community Measurement (NQF #0711 and #1884), first implemented in HEDIS® 2017.

2/7/19: Page updated to reflect the updated NCQA HEDIS® Measures.

 HEDIS® is a registered trademark of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).