The research project was designed to test the feasibility and effectiveness of implementing a Computerized Decision Support System for depression (CDSS-D) during acute care in a primary care setting. The basic experimental design was a two-group, two-site study design. Three different clinics with a total of 4 primary care physicians agreed and provided informed consent and participated in the study. Half of the physicians used the CDSS-D to treat patients with MDD and the other half provided Usual Care (UC) treatment.~The intervention, CDSS-D, incorporated a pre-existing depression treatment algorithm (Texas Medication Algorithm Project for Depression, Trivedi et al) with computer decision support programming, providing the treatment group physicians with a computerized algorithm.
The purpose of this study was designed to test the feasibility and effectiveness of implementing a Computerized Decision Support System for depression (CDSS-D) during acute care in a primary care setting.