Relatively little research has been conducted on the cost of alcohol treatment, but important developments have occurred in recent years. Researchers are exploring whether people who undergo alcoholism treatment have lower health care expenditures afterwards and whether some treatment settings are more cost-effective than are others. Other questions are also being considered, such as whether shorter or longer periods of inpatient treatment are more cost effective and whether treatment cost savings in the short term might lead to a higher probability of relapse, and consequently, greater long-term treatment costs. Recent years have brought improvements in the methods used to analyze the costs of alcoholism treatment. These improvements hold considerable promise for the further development of the field.
