Abstract
Background: Treatment engagement is a well-established performance measure for the treatment of substance use disorders. This study examined whether outpatient treatment engagement is associated with a reduced likelihood of subsequent detoxification admissions. Methods: This study used administrative data on treatment services received by clients in specialty treatment facilities licensed in Massachusetts. The sample consisted of 11,591 adult clients who began an outpatient treatment episode in 2006. Treatment engagement was defined as receipt of at least 1 treatment service within 14 days of beginning a new outpatient treatment episode and receipt of at least 2 additional treatment services in the next 30 days. The outcome was a subsequent detoxification admission. Multilevel survival models examined the relationship between engagement and outcomes, with time to detoxification admission as the dependent variable censored at 365 days. Results: Only 35% of clients met the outpatient engagement criteria, and 15% of clients had a detoxification admission within a year after beginning their outpatient treatment episode. Controlling for client demographics, insurance type, and substance use severity, clients who met the engagement criteria had a lower hazard of having a detoxification admission during the year following the index outpatient visit than those who did not engage (hazard ratio = 0.87, P <.01). Conclusions: Treatment engagement is a useful measure for monitoring quality of care. The findings from this study could help inform providers and policy makers on ways to target care and reduce the likelihood of more intensive services.
