David McPherson of St. Joseph recently graduated from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wis. He earned a doctorate in philosophy.
CentraCare Clinic, St. Joseph, was recently recognized by the Minnesota Health Action Group, Minnesota Bridges to Excellence and the State of Minnesota with a quality award for meeting their improvement goal in depression care. To be eligible for a reward, clinics must have a certain percentage of patients at optimal levels of care or significantly increase the number over the previous year. Depression measurements include remission, response and use of the PHQ-9. Both the remission and response measures are based on the patient’s improvement in their PHQ-9 score over a six-month period of time.
The Minnesota Bridges to Excellence program, which was established by the Minnesota Health Action Group in 2005, and the State’s Quality Incentive Payment System implemented in 2011, relies on clinical data that is publicly reported to identify clinics that qualify for a reward for meeting or exceeding optimal care standards for a specified percentage of patients with diabetes, vascular disease and depression.