ArticleHarm reduction journal2022
Supervised consumption site enables cost savings by avoiding emergency services: a cost analysis study.
Article in Harm reduction journal, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Oxygen Saturation Thresholds for Opioid-induced Respiratory Depression: A Systematic Review.The western journal of emergency medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Supervised consumption sites and population-level overdose mortality: a systematic review of recent evidence, 2016-2024.Health promotion and chronic disease prevention in Canada : research, policy and practice · 2025Pooled it
- Economic Evaluations of Establishing Opioid Overdose Prevention Centers in 12 North American Cities: A Systematic Review.Value in health : the journal of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research · 2024Pooled it
- Acute health service use among people who died from methamphetamine-related causes in New South Wales and Victoria.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Article
- Economic and epidemiological burden of medical complications of unregulated drug use among people who inject drugs in Québec.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2026Article
- Policing harm reduction: A case study of who counts as human.Crime, media, culture · 2026Article
- Saskatoon, Saskatchewan's safe consumption site provides a sizeable social and economic return on investment.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- 'I won't make it without this program': the impact of safer opioid supply program closures in Ontario.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- "Oh, Another Overdose, for the Love of Pete": First Responder Perspectives on Overdose Response Technology.The western journal of emergency medicine · 2025Article
- Harm Reduction as a Form of 'Wrap-Around' Care: The Nursing Role.International journal of mental health nursing · 2025Review
- Barriers and recommendations for harm reduction services among people living with HIV in Manitoba, Canada: a qualitative study.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Physician perspectives on reducing harm and supporting emergency department patients who use drugs.PloS one · 2025Article
- Overdose prevention centres as spaces of safety, trust and inclusion: A causal pathway based on a realist review.Drug and alcohol review · 2024Review
- Navigating the nexus between British Columbia's public consumption and decriminalization policies of illegal drugs.Health research policy and systems · 2024Article
- Preference for hotline versus mobile application/countdown-based mobile overdose response services: a qualitative study.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- Understanding the barriers and facilitators to implementing and sustaining Mobile Overdose Response Services from the perspective of Canadian key interest groups: a qualitative study.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- Flawed reports can harm: the case of supervised consumption services in Alberta.Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2023Article
- A cost benefit analysis of a virtual overdose monitoring service/mobile overdose response service: the national overdose response service.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2023Article
- "Another tool in the toolkit"-Perceptions, suggestions, and concerns of emergency service providers about the implementation of a supervised consumption site.The International journal on drug policy · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimsWe report on a cost analysis study, using population level data to determine the emergency service costs avoided from emergency overdose management at supervised consumption services (SCS).
designWe completed a cost analysis from a payer's perspective. In this setting, there is a single-payer model of service delivery.
settingIn Calgary, Canada, 'Safeworks Harm Reduction Program' was established in late 2017 and offers 24/7 access to SCS. The facility is a nurse-led service, available for client drop-in. We conducted a cost analysis for the entire duration of the program from November 2017 to January 2020, a period of 2 years and 3 months.
methodsWe assessed costs using the following factors from government health databases: monthly operational costs of providing services for drug consumption, cost of providing ambulance pre-hospital care for clients with overdoses who could not be revived at the facility, cost of initial treatment in an emergency department, and benefit of costs averted from overdoses that were successfully managed at the SCS.
resultsThe proportion of clients who have overdosed at the SCS has decreased steadily for the duration of the program. The number of overdoses that can be managed on site at the SCS has trended upward, currently 98%. Each overdose that is managed at the SCS produces approximately $1600 CAD in cost savings, with a savings of over $2.3 million for the lifetime of the program.
conclusionOverdose management at an SCS creates cost savings by offsetting costs required for managing overdoses using emergency department and pre-hospital ambulance services.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.