“This is a huge economic situation with approximately $83 billion attributed to the burden of depression each year, with the bulk of that burden being relative to work loss costs,” said Dr. Sam Toney, president and chief medical officer of Health Integrated Inc. “Depression is a co-morbid condition to many medical disease states, especially when looking at cardiac disease, diabetes and most common chronic diseases.”

“Depression and Disease Management,” a May 25, 2005 audio conference on CD-ROM sponsored by the Healthcare Intelligence Network (HIN), uses case studies to demonstrate the positive health and financial implications associated with depression management programs. During this 90-minute audio conference on CD-ROM, expert panelists detail the merits and fallbacks and offer a comprehensive analysis of disease management for depression programs. For more information, please visit the HIN bookstore.

The tendency of depression to be coupled with other diseases results not only in heightened healthcare costs due to employee absenteeism, but also in lost productivity and insufficient presenteeism while on the job. Depression management programs are at the forefront of strategic development for reducing these consequences, but more healthcare organizations must get on board to achieve maximum benefit nationwide, said Dr. Toney, a presenter at the conference.

“Once it gets done, it works very well,” said co-presenter Mary Beth Chalk, chief operating officer of Resources for Living. “It’s a challenge getting all of the players to the table, but we’re working towards total overall health.”

“It’s a great opportunity to demonstrate the financial benefit, the medical cost offsets, with the effective identification and management of depression,” added Dr. Toney. “As we continue to have it validated and peer-reviewed, I think we’ll see a further gravitation towards acceptance.”

These speakers discuss various components of depression and disease management initiatives, including:

• Stand-alone programs versus an integrated program;
• Patient compliance;
• Program features;
• Program results;
• The role of the (Primary Care Provider) PCP in depression management;
• Measuring the improvement in depression and correlating it to personal productivity improvements; and
• The shortfalls of depression disease management.

This 90-minute audio conference on CD-ROM benefits disease management directors, managers and coordinators, care management nurses, key healthcare executives, and those responsible for financial and strategic development.

Also included on the CD-ROM are detailed outlines of the panelists’ presentations and a live question-and-answer session in which participants address personal concerns and benefit from the speakers’ expert advice. For more details on related products and upcoming audio conferences, visit the HIN bookstore.

About the Healthcare Intelligence Network -- HIN is the premier advisory service for executives seeking high-quality strategic information on the business of healthcare. For more information, contact the Healthcare Intelligence Network, PO Box 1442, Wall Township, NJ, USA, 07719-1442, (888) 446-3530, fax (732) 292-3073, e-mail info@hin.com, or visit www.hin.com.