Benefits

Polaris-CV helps providers perform all of the functions necessary to assess and clinically manage depression in patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD). The system screens for depression and anxiety, assists in the selection and management of treatment, and monitors patient progress.

By detecting and monitoring depression and anxiety, Polaris-CV acts as a catalyst for treatment, resulting in improved cardiac outcomes and enhanced quality of life. It provides benefits to all treatment stakeholders.

Patients

• Helps to ensure that depressed patients receive appropriate and effective treatment
• Most patients that require and receive treatment for depression experience improved quality of life
• Patients become more likely to comply with medication and other necessary steps to recovery
• Reduced risk for cardiac mortality/morbidity associated with depression
• Requires little time (less than 15 minutes)

Physicians

• Improve their ability to detect depression
• Improve treatment outcomes: patient quality of life and/or cardiac prognosis or clinical decision making (refer/medicate/”watch and wait”)
• Provides support for treatment planning and monitoring
• Can monitor severity of depression over time to determine whether the current treatment plan is “working”
• May have less paperwork due to the availability of reports for the clinical record
• Reports can be used to help motivate the patient for treatment (for depression) when appropriate
• Requires no more time or effort than is needed to review the results of a lab test

Office Staff

• Minimal training is required for use of system software
• Negligible increase in work load
• Provided with software tools for the efficient management of data collection
• Designed to compliment, not disrupt, the treatment process
• Easily integrated into an organization’s current office procedures

Program managers/administration

• Obtain standardized, reliable, severity adjusted outcomes data
• May use the system as the foundation for meaningful Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI)
• May use aggregate data to respond to payers and comply accreditation requirements
• Provides for cost-effective resource allocation (ensuring that the “right” patients receive the “right” treatment)

Payers

• Can enhance utilization review and reduce staff time required for utilization review
• Receive standardized and clinically relevant information about program performance
• Able to document the quality of the care that they purchase
• May reduce medical costs