According to a study in Schizophrenia Bulletin,.analysis of the RAISE trial (Recovery After Initial Schizophrenia Episode) shows that coordinated specialty care for young people with first-episode psychosis may be more cost-effective than typical community care. A study was performed by Robert Rosenheck, M.D., of Yale University, and colleagues finding, among other things, that coordinated specialty care patients received more mental health outpatient visits per 6-month period than community care patients, and more clinical, rehabilitation, and family treatment visits, but fewer peer support visits than those in community care. Those visits, plus newer medications and increased clinician training, contributed to an increase in cost over usual community care, but “these additional expenses have now been shown to be worth the investment in improving individuals’ health and functioning.” (Robert Heinssen, Ph.D., director of the Division of Services and Intervention Research at NIMH.) See the press release here. For more information, see:

• Psychiatric News Alert “Study Highlights Value of Intensive, Early Care for Psychosis“
• Psychiatric News article “Psychosocial Treatments Found Effective for Early Psychosis”
• Psychiatric Services article “The NAVIGATE Program for First-Episode Psychosis: Rationale, Overview, and Description of Psychosocial Components.”