The Cost of Screening and Brief Intervention in Employee Assistance Programs

Few studies examine the costs of conducting screening and brief intervention (SBI) in settings outside health care. This study
addresses this gap in knowledge by examining the employer-incurred costs of SBI in an employee assistance program (EAP) when
delivered by counselors. Screening was self-administered as part of the intake paperwork, and the brief intervention (BI)
was delivered during a regular counseling session. Training costs were 83 per counselor. The cost of a screen to the employer was0.64; most of this cost comprised the cost of the time the client spent completing the screen. The cost of a BI was $2.52.
The cost of SBI is lower than cost estimates of SBI conducted in a health care setting. The low costs for the current study
suggest that only modest gains in outcomes would likely be needed to justify delivering SBI in an EAP setting.