Community care: costs and benefits for a chronic patient.

The authors analyzed the costs and benefits of community care for a middle-aged chronic woman patient who was receiving care from a neighborhood health center after a total of eight years of hospitalization. Cost comparisons over a three-year period were made between the neighborhood center and a state hospital, the center and a day program of a community mental health center, and the center and the inpatient unit of a community mental health center. Cost of care in the neighborhood center fell from $2110 in the first year to $640 in the third, while costs in the alternative settings increased substantially. The patient's clinical status was rated "much improved" in the community.