Social work services in the emergency department: a cost-benefit analysis of an extended coverage program.

Although issues relating to cost and cost containment have assumed an increasingly important role in the delivery of health care services, relatively few attempts have been made to assess the costs and benefits of social work services in a hospital setting. This article examines a program that provides social work services in a general hospital's emergency department on a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week basis. The cost of these services is assessed through the output value index, a form of cost-benefit analysis in which the estimated value of the program's output is contrasted with the estimated investment of resources to maintain the program. The results suggest that the program was operated at a marginal cost to the hospital and that cost may have been outweighed by tangible and intangible program benefits.