How does collaborative care differ from traditional primary care?

• A. Independent treatment plans without coordination
• B. Longer wait times for appointments
• C. Use of care managers for proactive follow-up
• D. Lack of symptom measurement

Answer: (C)

Collaborative care uses a team-based approach where primary care works together with mental health specialists, guided by a care manager who coordinates treatment, follows up proactively, and regularly tracks symptoms with standardized measures. This proactive, coordinated, measurement-driven follow-up helps adjust treatment as needed and keeps everyone on the same page, which is different from traditional primary care that centers on the clinician’s one-on-one visits with less systematic tracking and outreach. The option describing care managers for proactive follow-up captures this core difference. Independent treatment plans without coordination miss the team and outreach aspect; longer wait times aren’t a defining feature of collaborative care; and lacking symptom measurement contradicts the very approach that guides treatment decisions in this model.