CAN MANAGEMENT BY OUTCOME INVIGORATE SUBSTANCE-ABUSE TREATMENT - MICROINCENTIVES AND THE QUALITY OF CARE

Given the rapid changes in health care, the economic consequences of s ubstance abuse and the contemporary problems of substance abuse treatm ent must be acknowledged and addressed. These problems include poor tr eatment outcomes, difficulty of recruiting and retaining treatment sta ff and failure of treatment programs to adopt effective research innov ations The authors suggest that these problems result from the incenti ves of the current payment system. To correct this, they propose an ou tcome-based incentive system to improve treatment outcome. This system is designed to enhance both treatment- and cost-effectiveness while b eing flexible and sensitive to local community circumstances.