Treating Depression – ROI

JAMA just published a study on treating depression and its impact.  Here is the summary from the Associated Press which hits the highlights.  With 6% of the population having depression and estimates that this costs our economy $30B a year, this is a big deal.

“Investing in depressed employees _ quickly getting them treatment and even offering telephone psychotherapy _ can cut absenteeism while improving workers’ health, a study suggests.”

• Employees who got the aggressive intervention worked on average about two weeks more during the yearlong study than those who got the usual care.

• More workers in the intervention group were still employed by year’s end _ 93 percent vs. 88 percent _ savings that helped employers avoid hiring and training costs.

• Intervention employees were almost 40 percent more likely to recover from depression during the yearlong study.

• Initial results indicate a savings of $1800 per employee from more hours worked versus $100-$400 in cost per employee.

What did they study:

• Used an online questionaire to identify people with signs of depression.

• 1/2 of the people got a letter suggesting they talk with their PCP or call their plan for a referral.  1/2 got repeat phone calls from case managers urging them to get treatment and check in on them.  A phone consult was offered if they resisted seeing a mental health expert.

• About 40 percent of workers in both groups got antidepressants. Intervention group workers were 60 percent more likely to get treatment from a mental health specialist.

This seems like an obvious one.  There are lots of therapy specific instances where we can take a more aggressive outreach to impact health and bottom line.  The best way to get a program launched is have a value prop that addresses both issues.