Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment With Substance Use Disorders in the Emergency Room Setting

Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment With Substance Use Disorders in the Emergency Room Setting (Screening and Brief Treatment for Substance Use Disorders in the Emergency Room Department)

This study will be a quality improvement project to review the effectiveness and barriers to effectiveness of a new clinical program in the emergency room to provide substance use screening followed by brief motivational interviewing and referral to treatment for patients who meet criteria for problem substance use. This study will consist of a chart review of the results of the screens performed by substance use counselors and correlating them to institutional variables such as wait time in the emergency room and length of stay as well as to patient variables obtained by chart review such as medical diagnosis and sociodemographic variables.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 19 and older Presentation to UAB Emergency Department

Exclusion Criteria:

• Younger than 19 Prisoners