Implementation of a Depression Screening Protocol and Tools to Improve Screening for Depression in Patients With Diabetes in the Primary Care Setting

•Clinicians should ensure that individuals with diabetes are screened for complications and comorbidities related to depressive disorder.•Barriers to depression screening in busy primary care clinics could be eased by incorporating a brief screening questionnaire in patient electronic health records.•Depression screening tools and protocol were successfully implemented in patients' electronic health records in a primary care setting.•With an implementation of a clearly defined protocol, a majority of adult patients visiting a primary care setting could be screened efficiently for depression.•The study participants included a total of 378 adult patients.•Higher prevalence of depression (52.5%) was found among diabetic patients compared with 18.3% among nondiabetic patients.

In this study we incorporate depression screening questionnaires/tools and a screening protocol into primary care practice. The effectiveness of the intervention was evaluated in establishing depression screening practice in the clinic. Implementation of the depression screening questionnaires in patients' electronic health records along with the depression screening protocol resulted in increased screening. Using this approach led to increased detection of depression risk in adult patients with chronic medical conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, in the primary care setting. Our study findings show that integration of the intake screening questionnaires into the electronic health record makes the screening process easier and more efficient in the primary care setting.