Cost estimation when time and resources are limited: the Brief DATCAP.
The Drug Abuse Treatment Cost Analysis Program (DATCAP) was designed in the early 1990s as a research guide to collect and analyze financial data from addiction treatment programs. The addiction research community could clearly benefit from a version of the DATCAP that reduced the time and effort required for its administration without compromising the integrity of its cost estimates. This paper introduces the Brief DATCAP and presents some preliminary findings. Initial feedback from respondents suggests that the Brief DATCAP is understandable, and easier and quicker to complete than the DATCAP. More importantly, preliminary results indicate that cost estimates from the Brief DATCAP differ from those of the longer DATCAP by less than 2%. These results have important research and policy implications because a shorter yet reasonably accurate cost instrument will enhance the feasibility and precision of future economic evaluations of addiction interventions.
French
Michael T
MT
Department of Sociology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124-2030, USA. mfrench@miami.edu
Roebuck
M Christopher
MC
McLellan
A Thomas
AT
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000191:economics; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis / Q000191:economics; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003625:Data Collection / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005377:Financial Management, Hospital / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015276:Health Care Rationing / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000191:economics; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000191:economics; D012047:Rehabilitation Centers / Q000191:economics*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000191:economics* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D014481:United States