Team-based Treatment for First Episode Psychosis is Cost Effective: Implications for Policy and Practice

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Dr. Robert Rosenheck discusses an analysis of the NIMH-sponsored Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode (RAISE) Early Treatment Program (ETP) initiative that shows that “coordinated specialty care” (CSC) for young people with first episode psychosis is more cost-effective than typical community care. CSC for first episode psychosis is an individually tailored treatment program model that involves more types and intensity of specialty care than typical care. While the team-based CSC approach has modestly higher costs than typical care, it produces better clinical and quality of life outcomes. A series of multi-stage analyses was used to estimate the monetary value of these health benefits, which showed that the CSC treatment program is a better value than standard care. Since some of the medication used in the study to minimize metabolic effects will soon become generic, costs will soon be reduced while benefits will be unchanged. Serving individuals earlier in their episode of illness further increased cost/effectiveness of the program. In this webinar, Dr. Rosenheck reviews study methods and results and—along with discussant, Dr. Howard Goldman—considers their implications for policy and practice.

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