Partial Hospitalization Program: A Higher Level of Care Without Being Inpatient

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Inpatient vs Outpatient Treatment

Inpatient care, whether it be for addiction, medical, or mental health treatment, refers to around-the-clock structure and oversight. Individuals enrolled in these programs live on campus 24/7. Whether inpatient treatment takes place in a hospital setting or a rehab center, it is the most intense level of addiction treatment.

Depending on your circumstances, inpatient hospitalization or residential rehab takes place over several days to weeks and often includes medical detoxification.

The term “outpatient care” covers all other addiction treatment services, which are offered over a continuum.

Outpatient services can include:

Visits with your primary care provider
Individual counseling
Group therapy
Structured addiction treatment programs

Outpatient programs can consist of as little as one hour per week and as much as several hours per day. The latter, more intensive, outpatient option is often an alternative to the expense and restrictions of inpatient care.

What Is a Partial Hospitalization Program?

A partial hospitalization program (PHP) is the highest level of intensive outpatient treatment. Other types of intensive outpatient programs (IOPs) require frequent attendance and participation but not to the extent of partial hospitalization.

PHPs may involve spending most of your day in a treatment center. You can expect to be there between five and eight hours per day, usually on weekdays. To qualify as a PHP, a facility must host participants for at least 20 hours per week.

PHPs are a step down from inpatient care. You may be enrolled in partial hospitalization as part of ongoing care after an inpatient stay, or you may enter a partial hospitalization program as initial treatment instead of inpatient care.

Inpatient programs provide full-time focus on addiction recovery; however, they come with the cost and challenges of living on-site.

Individuals in inpatient programs typically cannot leave the facility for family, personal, or work reasons without voluntarily discharging, which may void their insurance coverage and prohibit them from reentering the program. PHPs often offer similar services with an attendance policy instead of on-site living and a lower program cost.

When and if you participate in PHP depends on factors such as:

The severity of your alcohol use disorder
Your willingness to engage in treatment
Your legal status
Your physical health
The presence of any underlying mental illness
Your financial resources

How Does a PHP Work?

A partial hospitalization program for alcohol addiction offers focused and structured time for you to work on the initial and often most difficult stages of early recovery.

Depending on the symptoms associated with your alcohol use disorder, you may require medical stabilization to help you withdraw safely. Both inpatient and partial hospitalization programs can offer withdrawal management, or detox, services.

PHPs offer several other core services that are used in most addiction treatment programs, including:

Mental health counseling
Group therapy
Development of peer support networks
Medication management for withdrawal symptoms, medical conditions, or mental health conditions
Mutual-support groups where you can interact with others recovering from addiction

Mental health professionals in PHPs may use several therapeutic modalities, such as motivational interviewing and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). These modalities may be used in individual or group settings.

Any addiction treatment will include some combination of these components. One benefit of partial hospitalization is that it can offer you all three in one place, as well as resources to help you maintain support and medical management as you progress toward less intensive treatment.

Housing Assistance

Because you do not live at the facility during a PHP, many programs offer services for finding and retaining alcohol and drug-free housing. Some PHPs collaborate with sober living houses.

These services allow you to attend your PHP for structured daily sessions and spend your unstructured hours in a safe space that promotes your recovery. In a sober living house, you’ll live with others who are also on the road to recovery and can help keep you accountable as you progress through treatment.

Mental Health Treatment

Mental health providers today recognize the overlap between mental illness and substance misuse and often employ techniques that address both. It is common for someone with alcohol or other substance use disorders to have an underlying, untreated mental illness.

Studies show that this high rate of co-occurring disorders, also called dual diagnosis, relates to several factors, including the prevalence of substance use, especially alcohol and cannabis use, as a socially prevalent and acceptable coping mechanism.

When an individual does not have other coping mechanisms to deal with profound mental health symptoms, social or recreational substance use is more likely to develop into addiction.

Partial hospitalization programs are well-established for mental health conditions. They are not used for substance misuse alone but also for conditions like mood disorders, such as major depressive disorder, trauma, eating disorders, and psychotic disorders, such as substance-induced psychotic disorder.

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Community Supports

PHPs rarely work in isolation. They are often a bridge between inpatient and outpatient programs. You may be referred to a PHP to increase your level of care from an outpatient program or as part of a discharge plan from inpatient care.

Your PHP may collaborate with community resources such as 12-step groups like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), local physicians, medication management clinics, counseling services, and legal entities to help you develop a comprehensive plan of care.

Is a PHP Right for Me?

Whether partial hospitalization is right for you is a decision for you and those coordinating your care, based on your needs.

Treatment Needs

Generally speaking, partial hospitalization tends to be appropriate for you if you have moderate to severe alcohol use disorder—with or without a dual diagnosis—and cannot maintain abstinence with less intensive modalities.

Your care team may also consider your ability to modulate behaviors that:

Threaten your physical safety or medical well-being
Affect your ability to attend less intensive programming
Affect your ability to actively participate in therapy and other activities

Your ideal treatment should offer the frequency and scope of care that will optimize your recovery and ensure your safety.

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Program Outcomes

Generally, partial hospitalization is more long-term than inpatient care. You might be admitted to an inpatient unit for one to four weeks. If you participate in a PHP and IOP, or intensive outpatient program, your treatment plan could take place over several months.

This timeframe allows you to set long-term goals for desired program outcomes, such as:

Stabilizing your home and family situations while in treatment
Building up a supportive community of peers who are in recovery
Learning new skills and behaviors to help you deal with stressors and triggers
Bringing real-life situations to your counselor and group as they come up in the course of your treatment
Allowing your counselors to get to know you in the context of your “real” life

Financial Eligibility

Partial hospitalization, depending on the program, can cost half as much as inpatient treatment. This is important to consider as insurance does not always cover addiction treatment services. Your safety and well-being are always a higher priority than cost, but your care providers will take into account cost when determining your appropriate level of care.

You may be eligible for a payment plan, cash patient discount, financing, or other alternative payment option if your insurance does not cover the entire cost of your PHP.

Remember that while it does present many benefits, partial hospitalization is not for everyone. Addiction treatment is most successful when it meets the specific needs of the individual.

If you or someone you know needs help for alcohol addiction, call 800-948-8417 Sponsored to speak with a specialist about treatment options.