Increasing Mental Health Screening in Pediatric Subspecialty Clinics: An Improvement Project at Brooke Army Medical Center.

This article focuses on a quality improvement (QI) project aimed at increasing mental health screening rates among adolescent patients in pediatric subspecialty clinics at Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC). Utilizing the Defense Health Administration (DHA) Procedures Manual 6025.01 guidelines, the project implemented standardized screening tools—the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7)—to assess depression, anxiety, and suicidality risk in patients aged 12 and older. Through two iterative Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles and the development of a standard operating procedure (SOP), screening rates increased from a 6.3% baseline to 50%, with high positivity rates for anxiety and depression observed throughout. The project demonstrated feasibility within military healthcare settings and highlighted opportunities for further SOP refinement, expanded screening across subspecialties, and improved documentation and coding practices to enhance adolescent mental health surveillance.