Addiction Medicine: Closing the Gap between Science and Practice

63.3

14.6 11.9 10.2

Non-

Intensive/Non-

Residential

Services

Intensive Non-

Residential

Services

Short-Term

Residential

Services

Longer-Term

Residential

Services

P E R C E N T

Source: CASA Columbia analysis of The Treatment Episode

Data Set (TEDS), 2009.

Figure 7.L

Admissions to Different Types of

Treatment Service Venues

separation of addiction treatment from
mainstream health care is demonstrated further
by the fact that most treatment venues are not
licensed health care institutions.^69
(See Chapter IX.)

Available data on treatment venues to which
referrals are made distinguish between intensive
and non-intensive services provided in non-
residential settings and between short- and
longer-term services provided in residential
settings:^70

 Non-residential services include individual,
family, group and/or pharmaceutical
therapies provided on an ambulatory or
outpatient basis. Intensive services are those
that last at least two or more hours per day
for three or more days per week.

 Residential services include addiction
treatment provided in a non-hospital setting,
and 24-hour per day medical care in a
hospital facility that includes addiction
treatment. Short-term services include those
that last for 30 days or less and longer-terms
services are those that last for more than 30
days.

There are no data available to match the need for
specific services with referrals to specific
treatment venues. Although referrals to
treatment primarily come when addiction has
advanced to the point of serious social
consequences (e.g., the criminal justice system)
and often involve co-occurring health
conditions, in 2009, the majority of the 1.5
million treatment admissions were to non-

intensive and non-residential venues:^71

 63.3 percent were for non-intensive, non-
residential services;

 14.6 percent were for intensive, non-
residential services;

 11.9 percent were for short-term residential

services; and

 10.2 percent were for longer-term residential

services.^72 (Figure 7.L)

While most admissions regardless of referral

source are to non-residential venues (77.9

percent), certain referral sources are even likelier

than average to result in admissions to non-

residential services, including:

 schools (97.8 percent);

 the criminal justice system (85.5 percent);

 employers (84.0 percent); and

 community sources (79.3 percent).^73

In contrast, while only 22.0 percent of treatment

admissions overall are referred to residential

treatment venues, 47.8 percent of those referred

by addiction treatment providers are to

residential treatment venues.^74 (Table 7.1)