Depression treatment: The impact of treatment persistence on total healthcare costs

Depression is a prevalent and costly disorder. Existing research has shown that many patients suffering from behavioral health conditions, including depression, receive inadequate or no treatment for these disorders. Inadequate treatment often occurs when patients discontinue their prescribed courses of treatment.

The purpose of this research report is to attempt to quantify the impact of depression treatment persistence on post-treatment healthcare costs. Is persistent treatment associated with future healthcare cost savings? Do patients who receive more depression treatment or continue treatment have lower total healthcare cost growth post-treatment than those who received less treatment or discontinued treatment? We conducted a study from a large national medical claims database and compared the relative change in total healthcare costs from the pre-treatment period to the post-treatment period by cohort.

Our results suggest that there is a relationship between persistent treatment for depression and future healthcare cost trend reductions for certain treatment paths and patient cohorts. We conclude with a discussion of the results and of suggestions for future research on this topic.