Researchers led by Michael Fleming, M.D., developed a cost-benefit model by examining the impact of screenings that included a test for carbohydrate deficient transferrin (CDT), a chemical that signals the presence of alcohol in the blood. They noted that the CDT test, which can show if the patient has consumed four to five alcoholic drinks a day within the previous two weeks, raised the number of problem drinkers identified in primary-care screening programs.

Fleming and colleagues concluded that the CDT tests saved an average of $212.30 in medical and legal costs over four years when physicians used the data to address patients' heavy drinking. Medicare will reimburse about $26 for each CDT test.

The research was published in the November 2005 issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

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