Length of Stay in Rehab

Someone quoted you a number of days, and you cannot tell whether it is a plan for you or a national midpoint from another year. That gap is the worry. SAMHSA's 2019 Treatment Episode Data Set counts days in a reported episode at facilities that send data to state systems. It describes those discharges. It does not reserve a bed, and it does not mean you are finished when the midpoint arrives.

If someone is having a seizure, cannot be woken, or is struggling to breathe, call 911. For a mental health crisis, call or text 988.

Ranges written for the public, and the research summary NIDA attaches to time in care, are on how long rehab lasts. The numbers below are the 2019 midpoints.

What those records count

Each record is a treatment episode. A person admitted twice in the same year is two admissions. Discharges are counted in the year they happen, even if the admission was earlier.

The report does not include every substance use program. It includes facilities licensed or certified by a state substance abuse agency, or facilities tracked for other administrative reasons. In general, the facilities that report receive state alcohol or drug agency funds, including federal block grant funds. A private program that never sent a record is not inside the median.

For 2019, 1,853,434 discharge records were reported by 47 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Of those, 1,722,503 could be linked to an admission for someone age 12 or older. Oregon, Washington, and West Virginia did not report enough discharge data to be included. The medians below describe that linked set.

The midpoints, by service

Among discharges age 12 and older, SAMHSA's highlights give these median lengths of stay:

• 85 days for outpatient medication-assisted opioid therapy
• 54 days for outpatient treatment
• 41 days for intensive outpatient treatment
• 41 days for long-term residential treatment
• 5 days for medication-assisted opioid detoxification
• 4 days for detoxification

Half of those discharges were shorter and half were longer. A median is not an average you can round into a package. The longest medians in that list are outpatient medication-assisted opioid therapy and ordinary outpatient treatment. The shortest are the two detoxification services. Withdrawal management is brief. Ongoing counseling and medication can run much longer. SAMHSA's consumer page still describes residential care, in ordinary language, as usually a few weeks to a few months. The 41-day long-term residential median sits inside that broad description. It does not shrink every house to 41 days.

Among discharges that completed treatment, the same report prints a second set of medians. They are longer for most services, because people who left early are no longer pulling the midpoint down:

• 165 days for outpatient medication-assisted opioid therapy
• 83 days for intensive outpatient treatment
• 79 days for long-term residential treatment
• 66 days for outpatient treatment
• 25 days for short-term residential treatment
• 21 days for hospital residential treatment
• 7 days for medication-assisted opioid detoxification
• 4 days for detoxification

Read the label before you quote a number. "Completed" is not "everyone who was discharged." The highlights list an all-discharge median for long-term residential care and a completer median for short-term residential care. Those are different cuts. The report does not print an all-discharge median for short-term residential treatment in that highlights list.

Leaving early is not the same as moving on

Of the 1,722,503 linked discharges, the highlights say 42 percent completed treatment, 25 percent dropped out, and 21 percent were transferred to further treatment. A later overview in the same report puts the transfer share at 22 percent. A transfer is not the same event as dropping out. Someone can leave a detoxification bed because the next level of care is ready. The stay was short because the service was short.

A 4-day median should not be read as "treatment takes four days." Detox and rehab are different services. The rest of care can be a different episode. Inpatient and outpatient care are different buildings. Intensive outpatient and partial hospitalization separate hour bands from length of enrollment.

What to ask before you treat a median as your plan

Ask which service the authorization covers: detoxification, short-term residential, long-term residential, intensive outpatient, or outpatient medication for opioid use disorder. Ask whether the number of days is a clinical recommendation, a payer's approval, or the program's usual package. Ask what is scheduled on the day that number ends. Ask who decides if you leave earlier or need to stay longer, and what care continues.

Search FindTreatment.gov and ask each program how it sets length. A directory listing does not show the 2019 median. Call or text (800) 653-9376 if you want help asking what a specific offer actually covers.

Additional Resources

Sources cited on this page:

• SAMHSA TEDS: 2019 Admissions to and Discharges From Publicly Funded Substance Use Treatment
• SAMHSA: Treatment types for mental health, drugs, and alcohol
• SAMHSA FindTreatment.gov
• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

Common Questions