The Short Treatment Allocation Tool for Eating Disorders: current practices in assigning patients to level of care.

Objective: The Short Treatment Allocation Tool for Eating Disorders ( is a new evidence-based algorithm developed to match patients to the most clinically appropriate and cost-effective level of care (Geller et al., 2016). The objective of this research was to examine the extent to which current practices are in alignment with recommendations.

Method: Participants were 179 healthcare professionals providing care for youth and/or adults with eating disorders. They completed an online survey and rated the extent to which three patient dimensions (, , and ) were used in assigning patients to each of five levels of care

Results: The majority of analyses testing a priori hypotheses based on the were statistically significant (all 's < .001), in the direction of recommendations. However, a strict coding scheme evaluating the extent to which ratings were fully consistent with the showed inconsistency rates ranging from 17 to 55% across the five levels of care, with the greatest inconsistencies involving the use of information, and the lowest involving the use of information.

Discussion: Although practices were generally aligned with the recommendations information was used least consistently in assigning patients to level of care.