Frequently Asked Questions
As an employer, how do I know that I have employees with depression?
National studies of employed Americans document that depression is far more common in the workforce than employers ever suspected. About one in 14 employees across the occupational spectrum experience an episode of depression each year.
The prevalence of depression in your workforce can be estimated through the use of a Depression Calculator. The calculator employs established actuarial methods for estimating risk for depression based on gender and age. Open Depression Calculator
Why don't I "see" the employees with depression in my workforce?
- Most employees try to “disguise” their disease because they are afraid their co-workers will devalue their contributions at work if they admit they have a mental disorder. Some employees try to hide their disease because they do not want anyone else to know they are not ‘playing at the top of their game’. Many healthcare professionals help employees hide their disease by substituting a less stigmatizing diagnosis when they treat a patient for depression.
One of the few markers employers have to monitor the prevalence of depression in their workforce is antidepressant medication prescribing. Even though this marker has increased dramatically over the last decade, the most recent studies show that less than 50% of depressed employees get any treatment for the condition, and more than 40% of depressed employees who start antidepressant medication discontinue it before they can realize any clinical benefit. Experts question whether increasing antidepressant prescribing rates reflect the increased "off label" use of antidepressants to treat conditions other than depression.
What is depression care management?
- Depression care management is often an employer-funded, and always a confidential program that provides professional and compassionate one-to-one outreach and ongoing support to employees and eligible family members with depression. The program is clinically proven to improve treatment outcomes, to help individuals feel better about themselves, improve their quality of life at home and in the workplace, and be more productive at both.
Don't the health plans our company subscribes to already provide depression care management?
- Several health plans have initiated depression care management programs in the past year. Most health plans do not provide depression care management because it requires them to restructure their service delivery systems to provide the type, duration, and intensity of depression treatment needed to improve clinical and work outcomes.
How do you know that depression care management will improve productivity in my workforce?
- The highest level of scientific evidence emerges from testing a new treatment in a randomized clinical trial (RCT) with a representative population of patients. The research team tested depression care management in an RCT with workers employed by over 100 companies in 10 states across the country. The trial demonstrated that depression care management significantly improved absenteeism and productivity at work, with no differences across the occupational spectrum. Because employees who participated in the trial had many different jobs, the research team used self-report measures of these work outcomes shown to have strong relationships with objective measures of absenteeism and productivity.
What does depression care management cost?
- Vendors who provide depression care management currently employ a wide range of strategies to price their product. The most expensive and variable component of depression care management appears to be the vendor costs associated with engaging employees in the program. Since a vendor has to successfully engage employees to produce a return on investment for the purchaser, employers should carefully evaluate this component of the price.
Are all depression care management programs created 'equal'?
- Many vendors advertise their care management products as ‘evidence-based’ whether or not their product delivers the critical components of the treatment shown to improve outcomes. The critical components of depression care management that a vendor must deliver to provide the treatment shown to provide return on investment are listed in the Depression Care Management Vendors Chart. The operations definitions of these critical components are listed in the Performance Management Standards. Many employers find that a benefit consultant specialist or regional coalitions like Colorado Business Group on Health can help evaluate whether the care management product they are considering meets performance management standards.
How can I measure whether I am getting a return on investment with depression care management?
- The most effective way for a company to assure that it is receiving a return on investment is to purchase a product that delivers all critical components of depression care management at or above the level of the Performance Management Standards. The company that purchases this product can insert data on the number of employee participants and the cost per participant using the Depression Calculator to estimate its return on investment.
Another effective way for a company to estimate its return on investment is to review the annual reports the vendor provides on program retention and absenteeism/productivity change among participating employees.
How do I find a vendor that will provide the type of depression care management that will result in a return on investment?
- The vendors who provide depression care management products identified from the literature are listed in the Depression Care Management Vendors Chart. The website developers contacted all vendors on the list to inquire whether they provided the critical components of the treatment shown to provide return on investment. Vendors who provide all components of evidence-based depression care management are highlighted in yellow.
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