The effective acute phase: Treatment refers to the percentage of members who remained on an antidepressant medication for at least 84 days (12 weeks).

The effective continuation phase: Treatment refers to the percentage of members who remained on an antidepressant medication for at least 180 days (six months).

• Schedule a follow-up office visit to assess symptoms within a maximum of six weeks.
• Visits should be sufficiently frequent to optimize adherence. (Roughly half of all patients treated for depression stop taking their medication within the first month.)
• Remind patients that symptom alleviation may take between two and four weeks. It can sometimes take up to eight weeks for medication to become fully effective.
• Remind patients to continue to take medications for at least six months, even if their symptoms improve.