Feasibility of multidimensional substance abuse treatment matching: automating the ASAM Patient Placement Criteria

The Patient Placement Criteria published by the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM Criteria) established a non-proprietary standard for matching substance use disorder patients to treatment settings. Methods: Data from 593 substance dependent adults who were assessed using the first computerized implementation of the ASAM Criteria were analyzed to determine whether the level of care assignments showed significant differences on a variety of clinical measures. Results: The algorithm showed acceptable discrimination between each of three ASAM Levels of Care across numerous clinical subscales. Conclusions: It is feasible to implement complex, multidimensional criteria for substance abuse treatment that may improve reliability and facilitate validity studies.