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DIAMOND Shines Bright for the Future of Depression Care!

Author: Timothy Hernandez, M.D.
Clinic: Gorman Clinic

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Depression Improvement Across Minnesota Offering a New Direction (DIAMOND) is a new state wide initiative for the management of depression and the FHSM clinics are among the first participants. Many of our staff and physicians have been involved in the re-design of how depression is managed in primary care clinics. On March 3rd, 2008 four of our clinics at Banning, Gorman, Highland and Vadnais will launch this new care initiative.

We are excited because we will be using a team approach with the primary care providers supported by a care manager and a consulting psychiatrist to provide the best care for depression within our clinics.

This model has been proven to be more than twice as effective as “usual care” in getting people who suffer with major depression back to functioning at their highest level. The novelty of this program lies with the care manager who will be actively involved in contacting patients (by phone or appointment) who have been enrolled to evaluate their progress and bring them back to their primary care providers if needed either through messaging or by appointment. The care managers will also consult with a psychiatrist every week for help with those difficult cases.

The other unique feature of DIAMOND is the payment structure. It is the first major program to be funded outside of the traditional office visit. The program was designed with the hope that the majority of the patients who were enrolled would have little to no responsibility for payment.

Although the complexities of coverage and benefits have prevented 100% coverage, the majority of enrollees there will have little out of pocket costs. We were able to achieve this goal due to the collaboration of providers and representatives of the insurance companies as well as the department of human services. We are proud to say that the FHSM clinics are on the forefront of providing the highest quality of depression care for our patients. We feel that the DIAMOND program gives us the necessary tools to achieve this goal.