Washington State Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral and Treatment (WASBIRT)

This state program works with hospital emergency rooms in six Washington counties - hospitals with some of the busiest emergency rooms in the state. Harborview Medical Center is the King County provider and employs five staff in the program.

Harborview staff watch for patients in the emergency room who might need assistance with drug or alcohol services. They screen for alcohol and other drug use, provide brief counseling and a brief intervention. The patient may get a referral for brief contact with a counselor or a referral to other resources or services.

The program goals are to:

• Increase the number of emergency room patients with substance abuse problems recognized through screening.
• Bring brief interventions to patients who test positive for substance use disorders. At Harborview, this usually takes 5-20 minutes.
• Increase more referrals of people from the emergency room to chemical dependency treatment.
• Drop future emergency room use and medical costs and reduce criminal action.
• Decrease injury and death for patients with alcohol and other drug problems.
• Examine how substance abuse services can include early intervention.
• Improve the contact between the emergency room and substance abuse treatment and make screenings and interventions for substance use problems a regular routine.