Screening for psychiatric disorders in primary care settings.

Abstract

This issue introduces a new column, focusing on the quality of mental health care. Although health care organizations have long monitored quality of care, the rapid pace of change in recent years—including increased competition, privatization, and shifting incentives—has heightened the importance of such activities. In addition, the emergence of integrated health care systems with advanced information capabilities offers new opportunities to evaluate the care of populations and to identify areas for quality improvement. This column will describe new methods for assessing and enhancing quality and will report on the use of these methods in research studies and real-world settings. Topics will include (1) improving the detection of mental disorders; (2) promoting evidence-based treatment using practice guidelines and treatment algorithms; (3) determining the impact of organizational and financial restructuring on quality of care; (4) assessing quality in the treatment of populations by use of performance me...