Financial sustainability of screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment programs in emergency department settings (part of Economics of SBI symposium)

Background Substance misuse is a leading public health concern in the United States. Emergency departments (EDs) are thought to be an efficient environment in which to deliver screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) because a relatively high proportion of patients present with substance misuse. We developed a discrete event simulation model to track SBIRT program costs and revenues in an ED. The results inform the extent to which SBIRT can be sustained by insurance reimbursement in EDs.