However, understanding that resources may be limited, the most critical retention rates to monitor are 30 day and 1 year. Most patients who drop out of treatment do so within the first month, and those who stay in treatment for longer than a year often have noticeably improved long-term outcomes. Practices should track patient participation from admission to discharge/cessation of participation for every patient.
Funds allocated to performance monitoring are an excellent investment because monitoring can lead to better treatment for clients, improved attendance and retention rates, increased revenue, and decreased program costs. Simple performance improvement studies can be conducted at little or no cost. Administrators might consider including client monitoring efforts in counselor job descriptions and providing time in counselors’ schedules for followup calls to collect data.
Core Resource on Alcohol
One treatment provider invited the program’s 50 primary funding and referral sources to a presentation of performance improvement study findings. The first year, some of the data were not encouraging, suggesting areas for improvement. However, the administrator was committed to using the results to improve program performance and continuing an objective, open evaluation process. The somewhat negative results demonstrated commitment to accurate presentations.
Programs can measure their efforts at helping clients achieve the desired outcomes by identifying specific performance indicators, measuring them regularly, and testing whether specific initiatives lead to improvements in those performance indicators. The relationship between performance improvement and outcomes monitoring is illustrated best with an example. The general public is interested in reducing the number of highway deaths that occur each year.
Practice Guidance: Drug Screening as a Treatment Tool
Performance improvement can increase revenues by improving service delivery, reducing costs, and increasing client satisfaction (Deming 1986). Providers should also remember that polysubstance use with alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, stimulants, and other alcoholism treatment program drugs is common. MAT aims to treat the symptoms of opioid use disorder, not all substance use conditions. Therefore, patients who continue to use substances may need additional behavioral therapies or interventions to address these other issues.
