Measuring the quality of substance use disorder treatment: evaluating the validity of the Department of Veterans Affairs continuity of care performance measure.
This study examined the patient- and facility-level associations between the continuity of care performance measure adopted by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and improvements in self-administered Addiction Severity Index (ASI) composites and other indicators of problematic substance use. Up to 50 patients from each of a nationally representative sample of 109 VA substance use disorder (SUD) treatment programs at 73 VA facilities were assessed at intake and posttreatment. The continuity of care performance measure specifies that patients should receive at least two SUD outpatient visits in each of the three consecutive 30-day periods after they qualify as new SUD patients. In analyses adjusting for baseline characteristics, meeting the continuity of care performance measure was not associated with patient-level improvements in the ASI alcohol or drug composites, days of alcohol intoxication, or days of substance-related problems. Facility-level rates of continuity of care were negatively associated with improvements in ASI alcohol and drug composites. The continuity of care performance measure derived from prior patient-level evidence did not discriminate facility-level performance as predicted. Translating research into process-of-care quality measures requires postconstruction validation.
Harris
Alex H S
AH
Center for Health Care Evaluation, Department of Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, and Stanford University School of Medicine, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA. alexander.harris2@va.gov
Humphreys
Keith
K
Bowe
Thomas
T
Kivlahan
Daniel R
DR
Finney
John W
JW
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs
D013287:Illicit Drugs