Assessing public behavioral health services data: a mixed method analysis

Table 5 Themes and categories identified for the question “What is the intake process for referrals?”

Theme	Categories	N	Description(s)
Overall Intake Process	Assessment and Treatment	16	“Following intake assessment, the patient’s level of care is discussed and assigned.”
	Assessment and Referral	1	Patients are interviewed for intake, then referred to a clinician who creates a treatment plan.
	Treatment by referral only (assessment conducted at a previous site)	2	“This location is typically a continuation of care…”
Intake Assessments	Formal Assessment Process with Standardized Tool	7	American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) Tool; Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory (SASSI)
	General Assessment with Specific Tool or Process (Informal)	9	Pre-screening; psychosocial assessment; depression and anxiety screening
	General Assessment – Non-Specific	27	“An assessment is completed”
Shared Decision Making	Patient involved in decision making	6	“talk about alternatives, look at outpatient vs. inpatient needs”; “patient can decline higher level of care”
Shared Decision Making	No reference to patients in decision making	43	“will determine if appropriate for this program”
Personnel Involved	Specific personnel/staff referenced	7	Counselor conducting assessment; referral to clinician; substance use coordinator
Personnel Involved	No reference to personnel staff	42

Tables 5 provide the summary of the qualitative analysis for the open-ended questions “What is the intake process for referrals?”, “How do patients access services?”, and “Are there requirements for patients to engage in treatment?”. The first column provides the list of the themes identified, the second column provides the list of categories which fall under each theme, and the third column provides the count of study survey respondents who fall into each category. The last column providers

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