Alcohol and drug abuse consultation in the general hospital: a systems approach

The authors describe a program that is directed at assuring effective treatment and referral for alcoholic and addicted patients in a general hospital; the program was developed to assure maximal utilization of available addiction treatment facilities without adding to the hospital staff. Drawing on systems theory, the authors review both a pragmatic and a conceptual basis for psychiatric intervention with paraprofessional support to provide consultation to the general medical staff who treat alcoholic and addicted patients. They stress the feasibility of altering the nature of the hospital system to achieve more effective treatment for these patients.