Mental Health and Substance Abuse Treatment: Results from a Study Integrating Data from State Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and Medicaid Agencies

For this report, published in 2001, the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) and the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) initiated an effort five years ago to integrate Medicaid, State mental health, and State substance abuse agency data. Now under confidentiality agreements with the States, data from this CSAT/CMHS Integrated Data Base (IDB) Project has been analyzed and is the subject of this first report.

The IDB, currently built for the year 1996, assembles information from three types of State organizations – State MH, State SA, and Medicaid agencies. The IDB contains data from these types of organizations on mental health and substance abuse clients, their use of services, and level of expenditures. The IDB is assembled separately for three participating States –Delaware, Oklahoma, and Washington – and links person-level and service-level information across the multiple organizations in each State into one uniform data base.

This report presents findings from analyses of a subset of IDB records - persons with a primary mental or substance abuse disorder who are under age 65. Information about three groups of clients is presented: clients with mental disorders only (MH-only clients), clients with substance abuse disorders only (SA-only clients), and clients with dual MH+SA disorders (MH+SA clients). The study answers questions about the treatment services received by these populations under three different State auspices - the State MH and/or SA agency, Medicaid, or multiple auspices. 

Download the full report (PDF): Mental Health and Substance Abuse Treatment Results from a Study Integrating Data from State Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and Medicaid Agencies.pdf (381.78 kb)