Improving the Delivery of Alcohol Treatment and Prevention Services: A National Plan for Alcohol Health Services Research, Executive Summary

• NCJ Number: 196125
• Author(s): Michael Hilton Ph.D.; Robert B. Huebner Ph.D.
• Date Published: 1997
• Length: 34 pages
• Corporate Author: Subcommittee on Health Services Research, National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
• Sale Source: US Dept of Health and Human Services
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

This report contains recommendations, from the Subcommittee on Health Services Research for the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, in the field of health services research for the treatment and prevention of alcohol-related problems for use as a blueprint guiding the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) in continued development of its research program.

Abstract

This subcommittee's report begins with an introduction to the nature of the problem of alcoholism, and the current challenges faced in alcohol treatment services. Challenges such as the patient need-treatment gap, the existing multiple systems of care, and cost containment issues while maintaining and improving quality of care. Health services research is described as an intellectual tool for meeting these challenges, and the health services research at NIAAA, in response to the United States Congress' request for a national plan, is discussed. Recommendations include discussions on health services organization, financing, managed care, access and utilization, effectiveness and outcomes, cost and cost-effectiveness, prevention, methodology, dissemination and adoption of research findings, research infrastructure such as workforce, training, and peer review. This subcommittee's recommendations are informed by the work of its three panels, the panel on financing and organization, the panel on utilization and cost, and the panel on effectiveness. Their recommendations included studying the effects of managed care on the access, utilization, quality, costs, and outcomes of alcohol treatment services; increasing understanding of the alcohol treatment system by studying the interactive processes between patients, providers, government agencies and those who pay for treatment services and those who are financial intermediaries in the delivery of care; addressing the question of how outcomes are affected by changes in content or form of treatment (costs); and investing in improving methodology, including the standardization of measures, development of data collection systems, and application of appropriate research designs to enable conducting quality research in everyday practice settings. References