Excellent care, reasonable cost
New program at Pathways

by Brent McCraw, M.Ed., Director, Pathways Treatment Center

Centra Health's Pathways Treatment Center continues to change with the times. The center, which has been helping adults recover from chemical dependency since 1984, has reinvented itself to preserve its quality of care and reduce costs as it faces the economic realities of restricted insurance reimbursements.

While managed care has forced many treatment centers to close during the past 20 years, Pathways continues to evolve, focusing on preserving a high standard of care at a less expensive cost.

In 1984, when Pathways opened, the length of stay in the residential treatment program was 28 days, and insurance covered all costs. Inpatient care reimbursements were reduced in the late 1980s with the advent of managed care, and Pathways responded by beginning its outpatient and day treatment programs, followed by its gender-specific programs in 1996. The Pathways Plan was developed in the late 1980s, enabling companies to purchase treatment for employees by the episode rather than by the day, and the Pathways Plan is now available to private individuals.

Today, even more than in recent years, insurance reimbursement for residential days is tightly restricted, which led Pathways Treatment Center to close its residential program January 1. However, the center has once again re-engineered its services to meet the needs of its patients.

Pathways is expanding its ambulatory (outpatient) detoxification services. Pathways expects to meet 90 to 95 percent of detoxification needs at Pathways. The small number of patients who cannot be detoxed at Pathways will be hospitalized at Virginia Baptist Hospital. Pathways will offer affordable clinical services in day treatment and intensive outpatient levels of care. Clinical care provided by Pathways' counselors will not change, and gender-specific treatment programs will continue to meet the needs of men and women.

For adults who need to stay at the center, Pathways will provide treatment in a safe and supportive living arrangement through on-site hotel services. The patient will pay for the hotel services (including three meals a day), and insurance will cover day treatment and intensive outpatient clinical services. With the new hotel services, Pathways will continue to accept patients from outside of central Virginia.

For more information, call Pathways Treatment Center, (434) 947-4455, or toll-free, (866) 749-4455. Assessments and admissions may be scheduled during business hours Monday through Saturday.