Substance Abuse Treatment / Counseling

Provision of treatment and/or counseling to address substance abuse issues (including alcohol, legal and illegal drugs) provided in an office-based (outpatient) health service or residential health service setting. Residential substance abuse treatment (where a client stays 24 hours per day) is more resource-intensive than a regular “visit” for non-residential substance abuse treatment. A conversion factor of 4:1 (i.e., four visits count for each day of treatment) should be used for counting the delivery of residential substance abuse treatment services. Outpatient services should be limited to:

• The pre-treatment program of recovery readiness
• Harm reduction
• Mental health counseling to reduce depression, anxiety, and other disorders associated with substance abuse
• Outpatient drug-free treatment and counseling
• Methadone treatment
• Neuro-psychiatric pharmaceuticals
• Relapse prevention

HRSA Policy: 97-02.15 02/01/97