Making “Stone Soup”: Improvements in Clinic Access and Retention in Addiction Treatment

Process improvement needs in substance abuse treatment: Admissions walk-through results

“…Our findings also imply methods treatment agencies might adopt to create more accessible, efficient, and welcoming settings for clients. Although it is beyond the scope of this paper to discuss solutions undertaken by treatment agencies to address the barriers discovered from the walk-throughs, other research suggests that treatment agencies who offer walk-in appointments; use reminder phone calls; or help facilitate client linkages between levels of care (e.g., residential to outpatient) can reduce barriers to treatment, time required to enter treatment, and assessment "no-shows," and also engage clients more successfully in the next level of care (Capoccia, Cotter, Gustafson, Cassidy, Ford, Madden, Owens, Farnum, McCarty, & Molfenter, 2007;Molfenter, Zetts, Dodd, Owens, Ford, & McCarty, 2005). Future research should consider the bi-directionality of the intake process and how the complex lives of clients affect this process.…”

“…The RWJF Paths to Recovery initiative and CSAT Strengthening Treatment Access and Retention (STAR) program formed a nationwide learning collaborative called the Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment (NIATx) (Capoccia, Cotter, Gustafson, Cassidy, Ford, Madden, Owens, Farnum, McCarty, & Molfenter, 2007). NIATx provides collaborative learning opportunities and technical support to agencies so they can improve treatment access and retention.…”

Improving client engagement and retention in treatment: The Los Angeles County experience

“…2006Harrington, Van Nimwegen, & Esseling, 1997;Pearson et al, 2005). In recent years, community-based substance abuse treatment organizations have applied process improvement strategies to increase admissions, reduce waiting time from first contact to admission, reduce no-shows to intake/assessment interviews, and increase client continuation in treatment, through an effort referred to as the Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment (NIATx; Capoccia et al, 2007;Evans, Rieckmann, Fitzgerald, & Gustafson, 2007;McCarty et al, 2007;Uzoigwe, 2007).…”

“…The walkthrough exercise is critical to understanding how the organization engages a potential new client and shapes the client's "first impression" of the services being offered. The strengths and limitations of the agency's ability to provide timely care, to successfully engage new clients in treatment, and to retain them for an adequate period can be identified during the walkthrough exercise (Capoccia et al, 2007;Evans et al, 2007;Ford et al, 2007). • Change Team: One vehicle for implementing service improvements is the establishment of a Change Team (facilitated by a Change Leader) to identify process barriers and then plan and implement experiments designed to improve the existing process (Langley, Nolan, Nolan, Norman, & Provost, 1996).…”

Treatment of Alcohol and Other Drug Disorders in Europe: Four Case Studies

“…Participation in the Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment evaluation has indicated the importance of process improvement principles in advancing substance abuse treatment in the United States (Cappocia et al, 2007). To obtain insight into how process issues are addressed in other countries a convenience sample of 4 alcohol and drug treatment centers in Europe were visited in November and December 2006.…”