This interim report from the Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse at the Washington State Department of Social & Health Services found that Medicaid costs among ED patients were reduced after receiving screening and brief interventions for substance use disorders.

From the report:

The reductions in costs for patients who received at least a brief intervention were substantial. The reduction in total Medicaid costs after receiving the brief intervention ranged from −$185 per member per month (pmpm) (p<.05) to −$192 pmpm (p=.08), depending on the regression model.  Most of the Medicaid cost reductions were due to declines in the costs associated with inpatient hospitalizations from Emergency Department admissions which ranged from −$238 pmpm (p<.01) to −$269 pmpm (p<.01), depending on the regression model. Potential reductions in total Medicaid costs could be as high as $2.7 to $2.8 million a year for working age disabled clients who would receive at least a brief intervention if the WA-SBIRT program were to continue in the future once federal funding ends in September 2008.

Full report:  Medicaid Costs Declined Among Emergency Department Patients who Received Brief Interventions for Substance Use Disorders Through WASBIRT (PDF | 178.81 KB)

Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, Research and Data Analysis Division. (2007). Medicaid costs declined among emergency department patients who received brief interventions for substance use disorders through WASBIRT. Estee, S., He, L., Mancuso, D., and Felver, B.