Methods |
Controlled before‐and‐after study |
Participants |
Community‐based alcohol and other drug (AOD) services providing treatment programmes for detoxification, inpatient, residential and outpatient treatment services |
Interventions |
Intervention: performance contracts and quality improvement initiatives for outpatient substance abuse treatment programmes
Control: global payment (fixed monthly installment, one‐twelfth of the annual amount, determined prospectively through negotiations between the programme and the state)
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Outcomes |
Participant waiting time defined as number of days between the day the individual first contacted the programme and the admission day
Participant length of stay (LOS; calculated by subtracting admission date from discharge date and adding 1 day, so that participants admitted and discharged on the same day have an LOS of 1 day)
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Notes |
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