Levels of Care
IOP vs PHP, side by side.
Two outpatient levels of care, treating the same conditions with the same therapies and the same medical oversight. What separates them is how much of your week treatment takes.
The short answer
Same care. A different amount of it.
A partial hospitalization program fills most of your day, five days a week. An intensive outpatient program takes part of the day, three to five days a week, in the morning or the evening. Nearly everything else about the two is the same.
Both are outpatient care. You sleep in your own bed either way, neither one admits you anywhere, and neither one asks you to disappear from your life. The difference is measured in hours, which is exactly how the field measures it: an intensive outpatient program provides nine or more hours of structured treatment a week, and a partial hospitalization program twenty or more. That single number is most of what you are choosing between.
They also sit at the same place on the same map. The U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration puts both at Level II of the continuum of care, between standard outpatient therapy and residential treatment, and describes these levels as points on a continuum rather than separate categories. Intensive outpatient treatment, in that guidance, does three jobs at once: it is a place to start, a step down from residential care, and a step up when weekly therapy has not been enough.
It is worth saying plainly that more structure is not automatically better care. A national review published in Psychiatric Services found that 50 to 70 percent of participants reported abstinence at follow-up, and concluded that intensive outpatient programs are as effective as inpatient treatment for most people seeking care. That review counts partial hospitalization inside its definition, so the evidence covers both levels rather than favoring one. The question is not which program is stronger. It is how much structure your week needs right now.
At The Redpoint Center, both run on the same clinical model, with the same therapies and the same medical oversight. The rest of this page is the honest version of the difference.
Six real differences
Where IOP and PHP part ways.
These are the things that actually change between the two programs. Everything not on this list stays the same.
Moderate structure
Intensive Outpatient
Structured and flexible
Part of the day, three to five days a week, mornings or evenings
9 or more (ASAM Level 2.1)
Yes. The schedule is built around it
- All six Colorado offices
- A separate virtual IOP statewide
Available during the week
Down to outpatient care, or up to PHP
Most structured
Partial Hospitalization
The most structured level
Most of the day, Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
20 or more (ASAM Level 2.5)
Not during program hours
- Fort Collins
- Boulder
- Longmont
Monday through Friday
Down to IOP, then outpatient care
The nine and twenty hour figures are level-of-care standards from the American Society of Addiction Medicine, not Redpoint's own schedule. Your exact plan is set with your care team.
Shared clinical model
What does not change.
Most comparison pages stop at the schedule. Here is the part that matters just as much: choosing between these two does not change the care you get, only how much of it lands in a given week.
The therapies you get
The same clinical modalities run in both: DBT, CBT, ACT, EMDR, motivational interviewing, experiential groups, and mindfulness-based relapse prevention, combined and adjusted to fit you.
Trauma-informed care
The same team, trained the same way, working through what sits underneath without the risk of re-traumatization.
The support around treatment
Case management, recovery coaching, family support, and alumni support come with either program. The service list is identical.
You sleep at home
Neither program is a residential stay and neither is a hospital admission. You go home at the end of the day in both.
Common patterns
Which one usually fits.
These are patterns, not criteria. Plenty of people land somewhere these lines do not describe, which is what the assessment is for.
You have just finished residential treatment
PHP is the usual next step. It holds the daily rhythm of treatment steady while you start sleeping at home again.
You are holding down work, school, or caregiving
IOP is built for exactly this. Sessions run mornings or evenings, three to five days a week, so the rest of your life keeps running.
Getting through the day is the hard part
PHP puts you with your care team every weekday, with family sessions running Monday through Friday alongside it.
You are stepping down and want to keep momentum
IOP is where most people go after PHP, and where you go before outpatient care and alumni support.
Weekly therapy or IOP has not been enough
Stepping up to more structure is what the continuum is designed for. Needing more is information, not failure.
Five weekdays in one building is not realistic
IOP runs at all six Colorado offices and includes evening groups, and Redpoint also runs a separate virtual IOP statewide. PHP runs at three offices.
Getting placed
You do not have to get this right.
Nobody is asked to diagnose their own level of care. Here is who actually decides, and how much room there is to change course.
- 1
You call, and we listen
About 10 minutesA free, confidential conversation about what has been going on. Nobody asks you to name a program or defend a choice.
- 2
A clinical assessment sets the level
Placement comes from what the assessment finds, not from what you picked on a website. SAMHSA's guidance is that people should be matched to the level of care their clinical need calls for, and that is how we do it.
- 3
The level moves as you do
SAMHSA describes clients stepping up to more intensive treatment or down to less intensive treatment as needed, with duration increased or decreased based on clinical need. Starting in one program does not lock you into it.
Insurance usually covers both
Most major plans cover partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient alike. What you would actually pay depends on your specific plan, so The Redpoint Center checks your benefits at no cost and explains exactly what we find before you start. No obligation either way.
Accepted insurance
Employer and EAP partners
Don’t see your plan? Call us and we will check it, including out-of-network benefits.
Programs
The full continuum of care.
IOP and PHP are two points on a longer line. These are the rest, from the most structured to the least intensive.
Good to know
Questions people ask before choosing.
Is PHP or IOP better for mental health?
How many hours a week is each program?
How long do people stay in IOP or PHP?
Is PHP the same as being hospitalized?
Can I keep working or going to school?
Can I switch from one to the other?
Which one does insurance cover?
Where do you offer each program?
Still not sure which one?
A ten-minute conversation settles this faster than any comparison table. Call The Redpoint Center and a real person will talk it through with you, work out which level actually fits, and tell you if the answer is neither. Free, confidential, and no obligation.
(303) 219-0973We accept most major insurance plans and our team will help verify your coverage at no cost.