The purpose of this project is to assess whether enhanced outreach counseling (EOC) is an effective outreach strategy for discharged methadone maintenance patients compared to a standard referral procedure. EOC is a brief (30 minute) face-to-face intervention, followed by six weeks of ongoing telephone counseling/case management designed to help eligible out-of-treatment methadone patients re-enter treatment. Several studies have shown those patients who voluntarily re-enter treatment improve significantly following re-enrollment.

Patients who have been discharged from methadone maintenance treatment at the PVAMC who consented (as active patients) to be contacted for follow-up upon discharge.