Introduction completed please follow rubric for the rest!
Adolescent depression is a significant public health concern, affecting approximately 15% of U.S. adolescents annually (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2022). Depression during adolescence is associated with poor academic performance, social withdrawal, substance abuse, and an increased risk of suicide (Thapar et al., 2019). Despite its prevalence, adolescent depression often goes underdiagnosed in primary care settings due to inconsistent screening practices and workflow inefficiencies (Forman-Hoffman et al., 2022). Current national data indicate that fewer than 50% of eligible adolescents are screened using validated tools like the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) during routine visits (Subramanian et al., 2020).
Integrating the PHQ-9 into the electronic health record (EHR) system with automated prompts and risk tracking can address these gaps. This quality improvement (QI) project proposes a technology-driven solution to increase screening rates, improve provider adherence to follow-up care, and enhance patient outcomes.Choose and describe the practice problem, state the significance of the problem, describe the convince the reader of the importance of why change is needed. Provide an introduction to the quality improvement project being proposed. Make sure to end the introduction paragraph with a purpose statement (The purpose of the paper is….).Identify baseline data in the organization that assist in definition of the problem being chosen for the QI Project. If available provide specific numbers or expected number of end users that will be affected by the change.All quality improvement projects should have outcomes identified that will need to be assessed after implementation. Provide long-term and short-term goals for the quality improvement project. What do you plan to measure? What do you want to accomplish?Describe the proposed change in technology that will support the proposed practice change. Included is an example/draft of what the proposed change will look like for the end user as well as the workflow changes.What type of resources will be needed to make the proposed technology changes? Will this project take away from other projects that are already planned? How will you justify utilizing resources to do this project instead of another project currently planned?What is the culture of the organization where change is taking place? Describe readiness to change by the targeted end users, leaders and other key stakeholder in the organization. Identify the change theory being used and what barriers need to be addressed prior to the implementation of the pilot or project.What are the ethical and HIPPA concerns to consider prior to and during the implementation of this proposal? Do you have private information? If so, how will you keep this data private? What security measures will be implored?When project implementation and evaluation are complete, where can the results be disseminated? Discuss your plan of how the results of the proposed pilot will be disseminated.Write a conclusion, summarizing the paper.APA format, at least 8 scholarly references are required. The paper should be no more than 10 pages, excluding the reference page.