Background: The introduction of evidence-based guidelines for the diagnosis and therapy of depressive disorders has considerably improved the treatment process and outcome of this disorders. Health providers in primary care have a key role for the detection and initiation of an adequate treatment of patients with depressive disorders. In order to facilitate the use of evidence-based guidelines in primary care, the expert system D-Scout Depression-Scout was developed as a quality management tool. Objectives: The pilot version of the Depression-Scout software was evaluated by primary care providers. Methods: The Depression-Scout software is derived from the comprehensive compilation of evidence based guidelines that resulted from projects within the German Competence Network Depression/Suicidality. The different modules assist health providers with the electronic documentation of diagnosis, therapy, patient referral and symptom monitoring. With a self-developed rating questionnaire the pilot version of the Depression-Scout software was evaluated for the ease of use and benefit in the daily routine on the basis of patient data by GPs, specialists and psychotherapists. Results: The participants (n = 14) stated that the Depression-Scout software has a clear structure (85.8%) and its use is straightforward (78.5%). The guideline-based recommendations were rated by 92.9% as helpful and beneficial for the primary care routine. The program is also valuable for monitoring of care (64.3%). Conclusions: The Depression-Scout software facilitates a case management in primary care that is tuned with the needs of the patients. The next step planned is to implement and evaluate the software in routine primary care in the scope of a naturalistic study. It is expected that the software contributes to an improved diagnosis and treatment of patients with depressive disorders in primary care and ensures the direct implementation of guidelines into routine practice.