ESTIMATING THE COST IMPACT OF 3 DUAL DIAGNOSIS TREATMENT PROGRAMS

Specialized intervention programs for people with concurrent severe me ntal illness and substance abuse reduce the total costs of care. Compa red to baseline, cost savings of over 40% were achieved by 18 months p rimarily due to significant reductions in the use of acute and subacut e mental health services and despite an increase in outpatient mental health services. There also was an observable impact on cost reduction s in medical and criminal justice services without an increase in fami ly costs over the same time period.