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Commission to Build a Healthier America June Meeting Agenda
This is the agenda for the June 19, 2013 RWJF Commission to Build a Healthier America public meeting.
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Alcohol Interventions in Emergency Departments and Trauma Centers Offer Big Savings
Assessment of the cost-effectiveness of alcohol interventions in emergency departments and trauma centers
Up to $1.82 billion in U.S. health costs could be saved if the 20.5 million patients who receive treatment in emergency rooms or trauma centers were screened for alcohol abuse and received a brief counseling intervention, if needed, according to researchers at the University of Washington (Seattle) School of Medicine.
The researchers analyzed the costs of providing screening and a brief counseling intervention and compared them to the costs of future emergency department and trauma center visits and hospital admissions. They used federal, commercial and other databases, as well as a literature search to project the costs and use of health care.
Key Findings
- Screening all adult emergency department and trauma center patients could produce a savings of $89 for every injured patient screened, or $330 for every patient offered a brief intervention, the researchers estimated.
- For every dollar spent on screening and brief interventions, $3.81 could be saved in health care costs, the researchers estimated.
Funding
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) supported this study during 2001 and 2002 with a grant of $180,863 to the University of Washington School of Medicine, of which $77,222 was transferred to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center after the principal investigator relocated there.