title: The cost of screening and brief intervention in employee assistance programs.
abstract: Few studies examine the costs of conducting screening and brief intervention (SBI) in settings outside health care. This study addresses this gap in knowledge by examining the employer-incurred costs of SBI in an employee assistance program (EAP) when delivered by counselors. Screening was self-administered as part of the intake paperwork, and the brief intervention (BI) was delivered during a regular counseling session. Training costs were $83 per counselor. The cost of a screen to the employer was $0.64; most of this cost comprised the cost of the time the client spent completing the screen. The cost of a BI was $2.52. The cost of SBI is lower than cost estimates of SBI conducted in a health care setting. The low costs for the current study suggest that only modest gains in outcomes would likely be needed to justify delivering SBI in an EAP setting.
authors.affiliation: RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA. cowell@rti.org
authors.forename: Alexander J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Cowell
authors.forename: Jeremy W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Bray
authors.forename: Jesse M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Hinde
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D003376:Counseling / Q000191:economics; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009786:Occupational Health Services / Q000191:economics*; D016730:Program Development / Q000191:economics; D011614:Psychotherapy, Brief; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult