The Collaborative Care Advantage: Achieving Better, Faster Clinical Outcomes for Patients

By Jeff Ainsa, Clinical Director

High-quality mental health care isn’t a “nice to have,” it’s a “need to have.” But stigma, provider shortages, and unaffordable treatment discourage many people from seeking care. 

It’s part of the reason why 55% of American adults with a mental illness receive no treatment at all. And while any untreated health condition may result in debilitating long-term issues, people who suffer from untreated depression live a significantly lower quality of life and are at a higher risk of suicide.

If someone does seek treatment for mental health, it often takes too long to find a therapist, schedule an appointment and often the primary care physician isn't involved in the process, not providing quality mental health care.

Patients deserve better. They deserve a care model that delivers whole patient care. 

What is Collaborative Care?

Collaborative care brings primary care and behavioral health together to treat your whole health at the doctor’s office you trust. The evolvedMD model is unique as behavioral health managers are onsite and in-person allowing for faster and more efficient care.

Here’s how evolvedMD’s model works 

1. You schedule an appointment to see your primary care doctor.
   
   
2. Your doctor screens you for anxiety or depression.
   
   
3. If your screening indicates mild-to-moderate anxiety or depression, your doctor will recommend treatment and immediately connect you with evolvedMD’s onsite Behavioral Health Manager.
   
   
4. Within days—sometimes on the same day—you’ll have your first 45-minute appointment with the Behavioral Health Manager.
   
   
5. If medication is recommended, the Behavioral Health Manager will connect with an off-site Psychiatric Consultant and your doctor would then prescribe an antidepressant.
   
   
6. You revisit next month to check in and have a quick 15-minute follow-up with the Behavioral Health Manager. You continue visiting them once a month as well as check-ins with your primary care doctor for three months. 

Why is this better for you?

It’s Accessible - If you struggle with anxiety and depression, waiting up to six months for help is not an option. evolvedMD’s approach ensures you quickly start treatment within hours or days from the moment you speak with your doctor.

It’s Proactive, Not Reactive - Not addressing symptoms early, no matter how mild, may lead to increasingly severe symptoms down the road that are typically more difficult to treat. evolvedMD’s approach tackles your symptoms before they’re too severe to treat without help from external community resources.

It’s Affordable - In most of the U.S. patients can expect to pay $100-$200 per session. With evolvedMD’s approach, you’ll only pay what you would pay to see your doctor. For example, if the copay to see your doctor is $35, you’d pay the same amount to see evolvedMD’s onsite therapist.

The outcome: A healthier, happier you in record time. According to our research, evolvedMD’s collaborative care model achieves remission of depression over 10x faster than traditional care. More specifically, the median time to remission using our model is 53 days vs. 614 days in traditional care.

A patient of mine was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease, placed on dialysis, and having a hard time adjusting to their new life. They were placed on a transplant list and are now waiting for a kidney transplant, but they’ve come such a long way since starting services. Their initial PHQ9 was a "22/27" and today it is a "1/27"– Elana Weiss, Behavioral Health Manager

Treatment in a collaborative care setting (at the doctor’s office you trust) is the lifeline you need to lead a happier, healthier, and more fulfilled future.

Want to feel healthier, happier, and more fulfilled—faster? 
Share this article with your doctor.