Multidisciplinary treatment of eating disorders--Part 1: Structure and costs of treatment.

DeRoma et al. (2004) mapped out a 2-3-month hospital program for severe eating disorders. The team moved patients through four clear steps: full inpatient care, then a partial day hospital, next an intensive outpatient track, and finally regular outpatient visits.

The paper is a case series. It simply describes how the service is built and what it costs, not a controlled trial.

The authors say shifting more days to the partial hospital step saved money compared with keeping everyone on the ward. Exact savings are not given, but the model let the unit treat severe cases while shortening pricey inpatient nights.

Volkert et al. (2025) followed kids who went through a very similar day-treatment feeding program. Six years later, 80% were still off their feeding tubes, showing the same stepped model can give lasting results.

Scott et al. (2024) looked at 266 single-case feeding studies and found that mixing escape and non-escape extinction gives the biggest bite acceptance. M et al. did not test separate procedures, but Scott’s data suggest you can sharpen the behavioral pieces inside the stepped plan.

Wanchisen et al. (1989) tried inpatient versus outpatient CBT for bulimia and saw faster gains on the ward, yet higher relapse later. M et al. keep early inpatient care but shorten it, then stretch support across lighter steps—an update that may balance speed and staying power.

If you help clients with feeding disorders, think in steps instead of all-or-nothing admission. Push for brief, intense inpatient stays followed by partial day programming. You keep clinical control, cut cost, and follow-up work shows the weans stick for years. Pair the system with strong extinction packages (escape plus non-escape) to get both acceptance and behavior reduction in each step.