Drug Rehab or Addiction Treatment - What Is the Difference?

Recently a topic of conversation centered on whether there is a difference between a drug rehab and an addiction treatment center. As surprised as people were at the question, it made all of us realize those individuals without knowledge of the addiction treatment business or who have not been in addiction treatment themselves, might be easily confused.

There really is no difference between the two as far as the terminology. When a person mentions drug rehab, they are really referring to a drug rehabilitation program, which is the same as an addiction treatment program, alcohol treatment program or chemical dependency program. All of the above are designed to treat drug addiction and alcoholism, with the only difference resting in the actual services provided, population treated and the philosophy of the program.

Differences in Addiction Treatment Services

While they all generally have residential treatment services in common, it does not mean that each has been licensed to provide detox (detoxification services), partial hospitalization or outpatient treatment. The type of services a drug rehab or addiction treatment center provides is strictly up to the owner and operator and each service must be licensed by the state where the center is located. It suffices to say that the greater the continuum of care, the more likely the center is to be able to meet the patient?s needs.

To ensure one receives quality care when joining an addiction treatment program, a person should contact a drug rehab facility accredited by JCAHO (The Joint Commission of Accreditation for Health Organizations), a standard-bearer in health-care facilities, which assures the consumer that the accredited facility has achieved and continually maintains clinical and professional practices which are superior in its specialized field of treatment.

There are numerous sites about drug rehab facilities on the web and you should evaluate their credentials carefully. RecoveryConnection.org refers people to addiction treatment centers accredited by JCAHO.

Jonathan Huttner is one of the the principals at Lakeview Health Systems, an addiction treatment, alcohol and drug rehab facility