Health care providers and systems need effective strategies for management of individuals with multiple coexisting chronic conditions, who are now the norm rather the exception. Among patients with diabetes, the presence of co-morbid depression is associated with increased risk of complications, cardiovascular events and mortality—and higher medical costs. The TEAMcare study was a randomized controlled trial that demonstrated the effectiveness of the collaborative care model (CoCM) for treatment of depression, diabetes, and coronary heart disease in primary care. This multi-center trial was conducted by the University of Washington in collaboration with the Group Health Research Institute with funding from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).
The TEAMcare findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2010. The primary result was that (when compared to usual care) a multi-disciplinary team providing measurement-based care and nurse care management significantly improved outcomes for depression and coronary heart disease and/or diabetes at a lower cost over a 12-month treatment period.
- Katon WJ, et al., Collaborative care for patients with depression and chronic illnesses. N Engl J Med. 2010 Dec 30;363(27):2611-20
- McGregor M, et al., TEAMcare: an integrated multicondition collaborative care program for chronic illnesses and depression. J Ambul Care Manage. 2011 Apr-Jun;34(2):152-62.
- Von Korff M, et al., Functional outcomes of multi-condition collaborative care and successful aging: results of a randomized trial. BMJ 2011 Nov 10:343
- Lin EH, et al., Treatment adjustment and medication adherence for complex patients with diabetes, heart disease, and depression: a randomized controlled trial.Ann Fam Med. 2012 Jan-Feb;10(1):6-14.
- Katon W et al., Cost-effectiveness of a multicondition collaborative care intervention: a randomized controlled trial. Archives of General Psychiatry 2012; 69(5):506-14.
- Rosenberg D, et al., Integrated medical care management and behavioral risk factor reduction for multicondition patients: behavioral outcomes of the TEAMcare trial. Gen Hosp Psychiatry 2013, Nov 4.