Referrers do not refer clients that are suited to your treatment program.
Guide referrers, especially if they are not providers of addiction treatment services, to screen for substance abuse problems. Guide all referrers so they know how to refer clients to your program with minimal effort.
Acadia Hospital in Bangor, Maine increased the show rate for referrals from the emergency department by 15 percent by creating an assessment tool that the emergency department now uses to determine if patients need addiction treatment. It also includes instructions about where clients should go at 7:30 a.m. on weekdays to begin treatment. After working with the emergency department, the substance abuse unit used the same approach with local physicians’ offices and other referral sources. They found that training the nurses to use the tool was more effective than training doctors. See the Acadia Direct Admissions Checklist for referrals to Acadia Hospital’s intensive outpatient substance abuse program.
Signal Behavioral Healthcare in Denver, Colorado calls for pre-authorization for outpatient treatment prior to the client’s discharge from the intensive outpatient program.
Cycle Measure
Percentage of referred clients admitted
Data Collection Forms
Plan
Do
Study
Act
If this change was not an improvement and you can’t make it work, abandon this practice and test other promising practices that might be more successful in your setting.
The CRAFFT Questions provide a brief screening test for adolescent substance abuse.