Cost-effectiveness of substance disorder interventions for people with severe mental illness

This study examines the cost effectiveness of three intervention strategies for people with severe mental illness who are dually diagnosed clients in terms of service use and costs. The interventions represent three primary approaches to treating these disorders: 12-step recovery, case management, and behavioral skills training. Interim findings from the study indicate that all three approaches are reducing acute and subacute service use and increasing involvement with outpatient and case management treatments. However, both the case management and behavioral skills approaches reduce costs more than the 12-step recovery approach, although not to a statistically significant degree in the data collected thus far. Overall, the societal costs for these clients are reduced by 43% without increasing the burden on client families or on the criminal justice system.