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RESEARCH REPORT
Alcoholism treatment and medical care costs from Project MATCH
Author(s) -
Holder Harold D.,
Cisler Ron A.,
Longabaugh Richard,
Stout Robert L.,
Treno Andrew J.,
Zweben Allen
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
addiction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.424
H-Index - 193
eISSN - 1360-0443
pISSN - 0965-2140
DOI - 10.1046/j.1360-0443.2000.9579993.x
Subject(s) - medicine , modalities , matching (statistics) , medical care , session (web analytics) , treatment modality , medical treatment , psychiatry , emergency medicine , intensive care medicine , social science , pathology , sociology , world wide web , computer science
Aims. This paper examines the costs of medical care prior to and following initiation of alcoholism treatment as part of a study of patient matching to treatment modality. Design Longitudinal study with pre‐ and post‐treatment initiation. Measurements. The total medical care costs for inpatient and outpatient treatment for patients participating over a span of 3 years post‐treatment. Setting. Three treatment sites at two of the nine Project MATCH locations (Milwaukee, WI and Providence, RI). Participants. Two hundred and seventy‐nine patients. Intervention. Patients were randomly assigned to one of three treatment modalities: a 12‐session cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a four‐session motivational enhancement therapy (MET) or a 12‐session Twelve‐Step facilitation (TSF) treatment over 12 weeks. Findings. Total medical care costs declined from pre‐ to post‐treatment overall and for each modality. Matching effects independent of clinical prognosis showed that MET has potential for medical‐care cost‐savings. However, patients with poor prognostic characteristics (alcohol dependence, psychiatric severity and/or social network support for drinking) have better cost‐savings potential with CBT and/or TSF., Conclusions. Matching variables have significant importance in increasing the potential for medical‐care cost‐reductions following alcoholism treatment.