Sledge WH*, Bozzo J, McCullum BAW and Lee H
Objective: Co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse disorders, highly prevalent in general medical inpatients, are associated with longer Lengths of Stay (LOS) and higher costs. We examined the increased financial costs and benefits associated with a proactive multidisciplinary intervention, the Behavioral Intervention Team (BIT) relative to the fiscal benefit.
Methods: Costs and benefits associated with a Conventional Consultation Liaison (CCL) model and the BIT on three general inpatients units of a tertiary care hospital in a before-and-after design.
Results: Inpatients seen by the BIT had reduced LOS, resulting in lower per-case costs and incremental revenue from new cases. Total financial benefit when offset by additional BIT personnel costs resulted in a return of investment of 1.7:1.
Conclusion: Compared to the reactive CCL model, the proactive BIT resulted in significant financial benefit. Further study is needed to examine the impact of BIT model on quality of patient care and staff satisfaction.