Rethinking patient placement: the human service matrix model for matching services to needs

The improvements in both clinical and fiscal outcomes necessary for prosperity in the current healthcare environment require a rethinking of our conceptual approaches to patient assessment, treatment planning, and service delivery. Conventional practice rests in part on the Level of Care concept, which assigns intensities of both clinical services and treatment settings in a linked manner according to impairment severity. Although this approach has resulted in more efficient matching of resources to needs, it is overly restrictive, and does not speak directly to the need to match both healthcare and social services (including treatment setting) to human needs for treatment to be successful. The Human Service Matrix model presented in this article delinks clinical from social services and creates a conceptual framework for integrating social and healthcare services in the cure of patients with addictions. Our experience with this model suggests it has heuristic value in promoting cost and outcome effective treatment.