Cost savings from assertive community treatment services in an era of declining psychiatric inpatient use.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To assess, during a period of decreasing psychiatric inpatient utilization, cost savings from Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) programs for individuals with severe mental illnesses.

Data source

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) national administrative data for entrants into ACT programs.

Study design

An observational study of the effects of ACT enrollment on mental health inpatient utilization and costs in the first 12 months following enrollment. ACT enrollees (N = 2010) were propensity score matched to ACT-eligible non-enrollees (N = 4020). An instrumental variables generalized linear regression approach was used to estimate enrollment effects.

Results

Instrumental variables estimates indicate that between FY2001 and FY2004, entry into AC

SUBMITTER: Slade EP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3589962 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature