Compared to usual care, Collaborative Care is shown to increase the effectiveness of depression treatment and lower total healthcare costs. This handout outlines those differences using data from the IMPACT trial.
Updated 1/2/19
keyword: evidence base
Evidence Base for Collaborative Care
A substantial body of evidence for Collaborative Care has emerged since its development at the University of Washington in the 1990s. Beginning with the seminal IMPACT Trial published in 2002, more than ninety randomized controlled trials and several meta-analyses show that Collaborative Care (CoCM) is more effective than usual care for patients with depression, anxiety, and other behavioral health conditions.
CoCM is also shown to be highly effective in treating co-morbid mental health and physical conditions such as cancer, diabetes, and HIV. The document summarizes several selected research, review, and practice-based articles that demonstrate Collaborative Care significantly improves patient lives.