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Review
. 2025 Oct;56(5):1225-1234.
doi: 10.1007/s10578-024-01715-0. Epub 2024 Jun 19.

Shifting From Best Practice to Standard Practice: Implementing Measurement-Based Care in Health Systems

Amber E Deane  1 , Joshua S Elmore  1 , Taryn L Mayes  1 , Skylar Robinson  1 , Yasmin AlZubi  1 , Sarah M Wakefield  2 , Madhukar H Trivedi  3
Affiliations
Review

Shifting From Best Practice to Standard Practice: Implementing Measurement-Based Care in Health Systems

Amber E Deane et al. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2025 Oct.

Abstract

There is a high prevalence of untreated depression in adults and youth observed at the population level in the United States, and many who would benefit from treatment do not receive it. One proposed effort to increase access to care is the use of measurement-based care (MBC; repeated use of symptom measures for screening and treatment guidance) by primary care physicians to treat non-complex cases of depression. MBC has been shown to improve patient outcomes compared to care as usual, but there are barriers that need to be addressed at the health system level for effective implementation to occur. Herein we provide an overview of MBC and detail benefits and barriers of MBC implementation. Relevant considerations and guidance for implementing MBC are presented, and a case example of a health system implementing MBC is included. Though issues of reimbursement, limited human and technological resources, and resistance to systemic change are barriers to implementing MBC, effective strategies exist to overcome these barriers. In addition to helping health systems align with changes to value-based care models, effective implementation of MBC can likely improve patient outcomes and result in net financial benefits.

Keywords: Depression; Health systems; Measurement-based care.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Competing Interests: Dr. Trivedi has provided consulting services to Alkermes Inc, Axsome Therapeutics, Biogen MA Inc., Cerebral Inc., Circular Genomics Inc, Compass Pathfinder Limited, GH Research Limited, Heading Health Inc, Janssen, Legion Health Inc, Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., Mind Medicine (MindMed) Inc, Merck Sharp & Dhome LLC, Naki Health, Ltd., Neurocrine Biosciences Inc, Noema Pharma AG, Orexo US Inc, Otsuka American Pharmaceutical Inc, Otsuka Canada Pharmaceutical Inc, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization Inc, Praxis Precision Medicines Inc, SAGE Therapeutics, Sparian Biosciences Inc, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd, WebMD. He sits on the Scientific Advisory Board of Alto Neuroscience Inc, Cerebral Inc., Compass Pathfinder Limited, Heading Health, GreenLight VitalSign6 Inc, Legion Health Inc, Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp, Orexo US Inc, Signant Health. He holds stock in Alto Neuroscience Inc, Cerebral Inc, Circular Genomics Inc, GreenLight VitalSign6 Inc, Legion Health Inc. Additionally, he has received editorial compensation from American Psychiatric Association, and Oxford University Press. Dr. Deane, Mr. Elmore, Ms. Mayes, Dr. Wakefield, Ms. Alzubi, and Ms. Robinson have no declarations to report. Ethical Approval: Not applicable.

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