Specialized intervention programs for people with concurrent severe mental illness and substance abuse reduce the total costs of care. Compared to baseline, cost savings of over 40% were
achieved by 18 months, primarily due to significant reductions in the use of acute and subacute
mental health services and despite an increase in outpatient mental health services. There also
was an observable impact on cost reductions in medical and criminal justice services without
an increase in family costs over the same time period.
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