For CMS2: The referral for depression an ordered referral, captured by the value set codes “Referral for Depression Adolescent” and “Referral for Depression Adult.” However there are alternative interventions that meet this measure as listed in the specifications, such as “Intervention performed” or “Medication ordered.” It would meet the intent of the measure if a referral was done and there is documentation of that referral related to the positive depression screen, however this would be mostly dependent on where this documentation is captured in the EHR. For CMS82: Intervention, Order: Referral for Depression does not exist in CMS82.

The specification states that an acceptalbe follow-up to meet the Numerator is, "Intervention, Order: Referral for Depression." We would like to know if an order is required to meet this data point or if another documentation source is allowed to capture that a referral was done? An example is a data element stating the patient was referred to a mental health provider.