A new study finds hospitals can save money by finding out if patients are at risk of drug abuse.
Two local hospitals surveyed 29,000 emergency room patients.
They wanted to identify those at-risk of abusing drugs and alcohol to get them into treatment.
Nick Macchione with County Health Services says the aim is to keep these types of patients away from emergency rooms in the future.
Macchione: It's proven to save dollars not only in terms of lives, but saving dollars in terms of healthcare funders and providers.
Macchione would like to see government support for programs like these in all hospitals.
He says prevention is still the best way to keep health care costs down.
