The economic cost of substance abuse treatment in the state of Florida.
OBJECTIVE
Public and private stakeholders of substance abuse treatment services require economic cost data to guide program evaluations and funding decisions.


BACKGROUND
Rigorous cost assessments have been conducted for several treatment programs across the United States, but a systematic and comprehensive evaluation of programs in a particular state has never been attempted.


METHODS
The present study recruited all publicly funded treatment programs in the State of Florida and administered the Brief Drug Abuse Treatment Cost Analysis Program.


METHODS
A total of 175 programs participated in the study, representing a 71% response rate.


METHODS
Annual, weekly, and episode costs are estimated by modality.


CONCLUSIONS
The study procedures and empirical findings from this research can be used by program evaluators and government officials in Florida and other states as they develop service reimbursement algorithms and initiate more extensive evaluations of publicly funded substance abuse treatment programs.
Health Economics Research Group, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124, USA.
Pierre K
PK
Alexandre
Isabelle C
IC
Beulaygue
Michael T
MT
French
Kathryn E
KE
McCollister
Ioana
I
Popovici
Bisma A
BA
Sayed
D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D005380:Financing, Government; D005431:Florida; D011640:Public Policy; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000191:economics*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires