TEDS Frequently Asked Questions

TEDS reflects SAMHSA’s interest in increasing correspondence to the behavioral health model within the healthcare reform. Several factors were taken into consideration in developing reporting specifications, such as measures and categories that continue to be important for SAMHSA, appropriate reporting of outcomes for substance use consumers, and state comments on the feasibility and burden of reporting specific data elements. SAMHSA considered the reporting burden on states by limiting the required data elements to only the essential information for National Outcome Measures (NOMs) reporting. SAMHSA’s NOMs serve as performance targets for states and federally funded programs for substance misuse prevention and mental health promotion, early intervention, and treatment services.

TEDS is a national data system of annual admissions to and discharges from substance use treatment facilities that are licensed or certified by Single State Agencies (SSAs) to provide substance use treatment services. The data reported are a compilation of demographic, substance use, mental health, clinical, legal, and socioeconomic characteristics of all admissions and discharges aged 12 and over who are receiving publicly funded substance use treatment services.

TEDS records represent admission and discharge episodes rather than individuals. A person may be admitted to and discharged from treatment more than once in a year resulting in multiple episodes.

Information on admissions to and discharges from substance use treatment services are collected through state administrative systems and then reported to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) by the SSAs. Currently, TEDS data are reported by SSAs from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

TEDS is collected for and reported to SAMHSA’s Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality (CBHSQ) by the SSAs in accordance with the reporting terms and conditions of the Behavioral Health Services Information System (BHSIS) Agreement funded by SAMHSA.

SSAs are state entities with a primary responsibility of providing and facilitating publicly funded substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery services to children and adults with substance use disorders. The state role in submitting TEDS to SAMHSA is critical since TEDS is the only national data source on admissions to and discharges from substance use treatment services

Section 505(a) of the Public Health Service Act (42 USC §290aa–4) directs the Administrator of SAMHSA to collect data on public and private behavioral health treatment programs and individuals seeking treatment through such programs. In addition, states receiving federal funds through the Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Support Services Block Grant (SUPTRS BG) are required to report TEDS for all substance use treatment episodes paid for by the SUPTRS BG.

No, TEDS is not optional data reporting. Failure to comply with these requirements may lead to enforcement actions, potentially resulting in suspension or reduction of block grant payments, as stipulated in 42 U.S.C. 300x-55. If your state is seeking assistance, please reach out to the BHSIS Project Office toll-free at 1-833-888-1553 Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time

SSAs submit TEDS admissions and discharges data through the Data Submission System (DSS). The DSS is a web-based data preparation and submission system designed to provide an interactive and transparent data submission process. These functionalities, along with the overall intuitive design of the TEDS DSS, provide states and territories with easier access to and the means to comply with TEDS reporting requirements.

The TEDS system comprises two major components: The Admission Data Set and the Linked Discharge Data Set. The Admission Data Set consists of a Minimum Data Set collected by all states and a Supplemental Data Set where individual data items are reported at the state’s discretion.

TEDS-A is a national data system of annual admissions to substance use treatment facilities. TEDS-A contains records of admissions for people aged 12 and older and includes information at the time of admission such as demographics; primary, secondary, and tertiary substances used and their route of administration; frequency of substance use; age at first use; source of referral to treatment; number of prior treatment episodes; and service type, including provision of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) at the time of admission.

All states are required to submit data for all 19 MDS fields. The MDS includes demographic, substance use, and treatment characteristics.

The SuDS includes 15 items collected at the time of admission for treatment and are reported at the state’s discretion. The SuDS includes psychiatric, social, and economic measures.

Although frequency of data submission varies by state, monthly or quarterly reporting is strongly recommended to help ease the burden of reporting very large data files and to allow for more timely detection and resolution of any data problems.

Requests for extensions are not encouraged and granted extensions for data submissions are not guaranteed. Failure to comply with these requirements may lead to enforcement actions, potentially resulting in suspension or reduction of block grant payments, as stipulated in 42 U.S.C. 300x-55.

Annually, SAMHSA reports the most recent TEDS reporting period data. There may be a lag in TEDS publications because the preparation of data cannot begin until states have completed their data submission for that year. CBHSQ must balance the timeliness of reporting and the completeness of the dataset in reporting TEDS. If a state does not submit complete data for the reporting period, the state risks not being included in the annual report.

SAMHSA freezes the TEDS database on or about October 15th every year. For example, if the data are frozen on October 15, 2023, the frozen data will be used to produce the 2022 reports.

The Combined Substance Use and Mental Health Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) State Instruction Manual outlines the TEDS data reporting framework and provides guidelines to states for data submission. The manual can be downloaded from the SAMHSA website: Combined Substance Use and Mental Health Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) State Instruction Manual with Data Submission System (DSS) Guide (samhsa.gov).

SSAs are highly encouraged to reach out to the BHSIS Project Office for any technical assistance they need for data reporting. SSAs have the option to participate in BHSIS conference calls, webinars, virtual discussions boards, and other related activities as needed to prepare the data for submission.