Table 1 Variable descriptions
From: Adoption of practice guidelines and assessment tools in substance abuse treatment
Variable Name | Variable Description |
|---|---|
Organizational Items | Â |
   Size of Agency | Number of unduplicated client visits over the period of one week in all outpatient units in the organization. |
   Managed Care Involvement | A 0-2 scale: one point was added if the agency received Medicaid managed care, and another point was added if the agency received private or commercial managed care. |
   Freestanding Clinic (non-hospital based) | A dichotomous variable that assigned a 1 if the primary mission was "substance abuse only facility" and a 0 for the rest of the clinics (hospital, primary care clinic or other clinic). |
Staffing Items | Â |
   Counselor Education Level | Counselor education was measured with a weighted sum of the proportion of counselors with Doctoral, Masters, Bachelors, Associate or no degree: i.e., Educational Level = 4*(% of counselors with Ph.D.'s) + 3*(% of counselors with master's) + 2*(% of counselors with bachelor's) + 1*(% with less than a bachelor's). Higher scores indicate higher educational training for the staff. |
   Staff in Recovery | The percentage of staff at self-identified as in recovery. |
Services | Â |
   Counseling and Ancillary Services | This item assessed the range of counseling services offered at the clinic. This included both counseling (i.e., psychotherapy, assessment, group therapy, psycho-educational groups, intensive outpatient, day and evening programs and case management support services) and support services (child care, employment counseling and transportation). This variable is scored as the sum of the services offered at each clinic. |
   Medical and Medication Services | This item assessed the range of medical (i.e., primary care, HIV testing, TB testing, OB/GYN, and pregnancy testing) and medication services (naltrexone, disulfiram, methadone, LAAM, TB medication, HIV medication, psychotropic, anti-depressants and anti-psychotics). This variable is the sum of each of the services offered at each clinic. |
Outcomes | Â |
   Use of Assessment Tools | This was the sum of the standardized assessments for addiction that are used in the clinic (e.g., ASI, ADAD, DUSI, POSIT, LOCI, and RATE) as well as the psychiatric instruments used (e.g., SCID, GAF). |
   Use of Practice Guidelines | This was measured by items that assessed whether practice guidelines or other treatment protocols are used in the agency which included guidelines on medication management, depression, eating disorders, psychosis, alcohol, cocaine and heroin use disorders. |