A reprint from Family Practice Management (January 2003) with a quick chart outlining a policy for how long to keep patient records.

A depression diagnosis that warrants treatment or treatment change, needs at least one of the first two questions endorse as positive (little pleasure, feeling depressed) indicating the symptom has been present more than half the time in the past two weeks.

In addition the tenth question about difficulty at work or home or getting along with others should be answered at least "somewhat difficult".

When a depression diagnosis has been made patient preferences should be considered, especially when choosing between treatment recommendations of antidepressant treatment and psychotherapy.

The PHQ-2 inquires about the frequency of depressed mood and anhedonia over the past two weeks. The PHQ-2 includes the first two items of the PHQ-9.

The purose of the PHQ-2 is not to establish a final diagnosis or to monitor depression severity, but rather to screen for depression in a "first step" approach.

Patients who screen positive should be further evaluated with the PHQ-9 to determine whether they meet criteria for a depressive disorder.

“Social networking” or “Web 2.0” is the portion of internet activity that includes blogging, as well as the use of the following tools:  Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, flickr and YouTube.  This list is likely to expand, contract or otherwise change based on emerging trends.

Social networking builds and strengthens relationships with health center staff, boards, advocates, patients. Expand our ability to reach, educate and mobilize potential supporters and advocates. It is a significant source in the online environment of information related to health care delivery to medically underserved persons in general and health centers in particular. Expand the reach of our messages via communications channels that more and more individuals, policymakers and the media are using. Boost traffic to your organizations web site.

Health Centers can reduce their liability for lawsuits by ensuring they are eligible for coverage by the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), which offers protection akin to medical malpractice insurance to federally-funded Migrant and Community Health Centers. Since Health Centers are required to refer patients to medically-necessary specialty care services that are not within their capacity to provide, it is important to be consider the Health Center’s coverage and potential exposure in the event that problems arise connected to the referral.

In recognition of the importance of behavioral health as a component of quality health care delivery, HRSA requires health centers to provide these services to their patient population. These are services that are difficult for many MHCs to provide onsite so they must be contracted to outside providers. Behavioral health services may include, but are not limited to, counseling for mental health issues (e.g., depression, anxiety) and substance abuse (e.g., alcohol, recreational drugs). Health centers need to be aware of the special requirements imposed by HIPAA on medical records generated by the provision of behavioral health services, and consider the impact on FTCA coverage of referring patients to outside and/or off-site providers.