MSMS Practice Solutions today announced a new partnership with Greenlight, a company that offers a tablet-based medical tool to help combat depression, anxiety and suicide. Greenlight's cutting-edge technology provides a modern solution to an antiquated process of paper scoring for mental health conditions. This includes but is not limited to depression, anxiety, substance abuse risk, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and bipolar disorder.

Greenlight has found that:

• Half of people (50%) with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) remain unidentified. [Source: Williams Jr, 2002; Schonfeld, 1997]
• Depression is the world's fourth most prevalent health problem, costing the US $30 to $50 billion in lost productivity and direct medical costs each year.
• Symptoms consistent with depression are present in nearly 70% of primary care patients.
• One half to three quarters (50% - 75%) of older adults who committed suicide saw their medical doctor during the prior month for general medical care, and 39% were seen during the week prior to their death. [Source: Adult Depression in Primary Care Guideline, Sixteenth Edition]

Early detection of such conditions is attainable if physicians use the right tools at the right time.

Greenlight offers electronic assessment solutions that are designed to help physicians, nurses, and other medical professionals with the diagnosis and monitoring of mental health conditions. Using the electronic psychometric questionnaires, medical professionals can assess a patient's psychological and social health, to determine a course of treatment, and then monitor the treatment after the fact.

"The recent suicide of Robin Williams has greatly raised awareness of depression and mental health issues. The outpouring of public commentary reinforces that a better solution needs to be had," said Michael Bakke Sr., founder of Greenlight. "We have a solution to the problem. Doctors and medical professionals working with us realize that early detection of such conditions is critical to get patients the help they need before it is too late," he continued.

Doctor Catherine Hart responded, "Whenever I hear about a person completing suicide, my first thought is how we (the medical system) failed that individual. We must stop failing these people and start screening for depression like we screen for cancer. According to SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Result, a branch of the NIH), 0.7% of women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer in their lifetime. On the other hand, 10% of women will experience depression during their lifetime. Yet which disease do we screen for more effectively? Certainly not the more common of the two. Just like we follow the guidelines for cancer screening, medical providers need to follow the guidelines for depression screening -- annually for all people starting at 12 years old. Thankfully Greenlight's assessment tool is how we follow these guidelines in my practice."

Greenlight is dedicated to helping medical professionals have access to the tools and technology they need not only to run their practices efficiently but also to be on the cutting edge. Integrating technology into diagnosis and treatment will streamline the process and improve accuracy in patient record keeping and tracking progress. Greenlight can also help research teams track research study progress and outcomes digitally for convenience and accuracy compared to paper scoring.

The company's streamlined technology is affordable and easy for medical professionals to implement into their respective practices and organizations. The process is efficient and allows practitioners to view the test results immediately. To protect against liability, the system provides everything doctors need to ensure proper results reporting while minimizing paperwork and ensuring compliance with the new electronic health records legislation.

For more information about how to increase your practice's net revenue by more than $50,000 per year, please contact Greenlight at 210-957-8187 or email us at sales@greenlight.md.

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