OBJECTIVES: This research presents an approximating model of global treatment satisfaction (GS) created using econometric techniques. GS questions are usually worded, “All things considered, how satisfied are you with the care you received…?” The economic interpretation of GS is higher satisfaction corresponds to higher utility. When thought of as utility, GS is tied to the assumptions of utility maximizing imbedded in consumer theory, and more specifically, to the concept of demand. Attempts in the literature to measure GS fall short because of lack of theoretical guidance and inconsistency in measurement and variable operationalization. We avoid these limitations by presenting a methodological approach that makes it possible to view GS from an economic perspective. METHODS: The model is based on data from an outcomes study of substance abuse treatment services; however, it can be used for any treatment population. The participants are 311 adults (average age 36.4) discharged from primary treatment (ASAM Level 1A) in 2006-2010. The model is based on a single ordinal five-item GS variable and two treatment-relevant covariates: post-treatment time abstinent from use (treatment outcome), and an adjustor variable indicating addiction severity. GS is treated as a latent variable. It is specified using ordered probit regression under the log-linear functional form. The structural part of the relation is isolated by setting the model error term to zero. RESULTS: The model estimate for the outcome variable is 0.205 (S.E. 0.041; Χ2<0.0001), and for the severity variable 0.722 (S.E. 0.431; χ2 N.S). A set of GS indifference curves are presented based on severity and outcome equivalencies. CONCLUSIONS: The effort necessary to obtain higher GS increases on the margin. This is important given the strong relationship between addiction severity and treatment cost and given treatment resource constraints. This technique can be incorporated into the quality assurance activities in any health care setting.