UCSF

A clinical trial contrasted 2 interventions designed to link opioid-dependent hospital patients to drug abuse treatment. The 126 out-of-treatment participants were randomly assigned to (a) case management, (b) voucher for free methadone maintenance treatment (MMT), (c) case management plus voucher, or (d) usual care. Services were provided for 6 months. MMT enrollment at 3 months was 47% (case management), 89% (voucher), 93% (case management plus voucher), and 11% (usual care); at 6 months enrollment was 48%, 68%, 79%, and 21%, respectively. Case management and vouchers can be valuable in health settings to link substance abusers with medical problems to drug abuse treatment.