Practices Incorporate Mental Health Screening

SALT LAKE CITY — Staff at Intermountain Healthcare’s Bryner Clinic started screening patients 10 years ago for mental health issues — such as depression and anxiety — as part of its primary care practice. This began as a pilot project, but now Intermountain physicians are using the practice regularly and several healthcare facilities nationwide are following, the Deseret News reported today.

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Last week, Intermountain Healthcare’s LDS Hospital hosted a daylong retreat about integrating mental health into patient screening. The retreat explored how mental health screening treats the “whole patient,” Linda Leckman, MD, vice president of Intermountain Medical Group, said in the article. About 60 percent of medical problems have a mental health component, she continued. Intermountain healthcare facilities include urgent care centers, hospitals, surgery centers, endoscopy and dialysis facilities, physical therapy services, etc.

The screenings include standard health questions, and mental health questions such as, “Have you been depressed in the last two weeks?” the Deseret News reported. When mental health screening is routine, it removes the stigma that a patient might feel if they are being singled out.

Intermountain facilities have mental health experts available for care or consultation in case the patient’s situation is critical.

Mental health screening has been incorporated into primary care offices, hospitals, social service agencies, and colleges, according to researchers from Screening for Mental Health, Inc., a non-profit organization that introduced the concept of large-scale mental health screenings through its flagship National Depression Screening Day program in 1991.

Screening for Mental Health (SMH) programs test for depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, alcohol problems, and suicidal tendencies.

In 2006 alone, SMH programs were used in almost 600,000 screenings in about 12,000 facilities, the program’s Web site claims. SMH researchers and Intermountain Healthcare representatives have stated that the trend of weaving mental health into standard healthcare will grow.