The Recovery Executive Podcast: Recent Episodes
Nick Jaworski
The business of recovery is changing fast. Many executives are getting left behind. The Recovery Executive Podcast talks to experts in the field on marketing, operations, M&As, billing, and growth to help you build your organization, serve more of those who need help, and stay on top.
Cumberland Heights is one of the most consistently profitable non-profit treatment programs in the country. If you look at the 990s of many well-known non-profit treatment programs, they have consistent annual fiscal deficits when donor contributions are removed from the P&L. They have also continued to successfully expand throughout the state, adding on service lines and locations. In this episode, I speak with CEO Jay Crosson to learn just what it is about Cumberland Heights' strategy that has made is so consistently successful.
How do treatment programs innovate and what innovations are on the horizon, especially as we move into more consistent use of AI across departments? In this episode, I speak with Brad Sorte, previous CEO of Caron and current Co-founder of Sober Companion AI to address these topics.
Teen treatment has been a hot topic for expansion and investment recently in behavioral health. "Lots of demand with not enough providers" is the current mantra. But is this accurate? What makes a good teen health provider? Should adult programs add on teen options? If the prevailing mantra is true, why are we seeing so many closures of teen facilities across the country? All these questions and more will be answered with my guest, Chris Perkins, CEO of Velocity Health Group and previous CEO of Calo (now part of Embark), one of the most successful teen treatment programs in the country.
Many OON providers don't realize that a number of employer-funded insurance contracts include clauses that provide for higher reimbursements in exchange for guarantees not to balance bill patients, often resulting in millions of dollars of unreimbursed care.This episode is a deep dive into the complex world of third-party administrators (TPAs), downline administrators, self-funded vs. provider-funded insurance plans, and negotiating no balance billing clauses for OON contracts with Ali Beheshit, CEO of Zealie.
High-end private pay programs charge as much as $100,000 a month for patients entering these exclusive facilities. Cultivating referral relationships for patients in the income bracket that can afford such programs require a specialized approach.Mark O'Connor has worked in outreach for both Caron and The Lighthouse, two programs renowned for the quality of care they provide, that comes at significant cost for their higher end programming.Mark walks us through his relationships and approach that have helped him regularly place patients into such programming.
Stagnant community outreach and business development strategies are still the norm in much of the field of behavioral health, which is why so many providers struggle to build consistently high-performing teams. Often, lack of results are ascribed to the outreach reps themselves, but the reality is that there is significant opportunity for providers to step up their hiring, training, and support processes for their teams.Shelley Plemons, most recently the Senior Vice President of Strategy and Growth for Discovery Behavioral and now a Senior Consultant for Circle Social, discusses the strategies and tactics that define successful outreach teams. We discuss how much of it is really common sense, but this is certainly a topic where the adage "common sense is often not common practice" applies.
Groups Recover Together has developed a very specific care model that doesn't fit into standard fee-for-service arrangements. This required them to think outside the box when negotiating with payers, resulting in the majority of their contracts being value-based care arrangements.Groups is committed to delivering positive outcomes for its patients and goes at risk with the payers to guarantee those results. They've developed robust outcomes tracking, something notoriously hard to do in the MAT space, enabling them to see what's working, what's not, and where taking risk is appropriate.Cooper Zelnick, CRO of Groups, walks us through their care model, the data they collect, and how both those things create value for patients and payers.
Intentionality is different from desire. Many programs want to grow, they strive to grow, but there is not always intentionality as to how they go about that, especially when it comes to community need and program design. In this episode, I speak with Jaime Vinck, CEO of Recovery Ways and former CEO of Sierra Tuscon, regarding building a program with intentionality. How should programs look at community need, payer relationships, and program development BEFORE they open up a new program? Jamie shares her extensive experience as well as Recovery Ways' current common sense strategy to growth and scale.
Successful call center operations are integral to the success of any provider. Your marketing and outreach teams can be phenomenal, but if your admissions staff on the phones don't do their job well, patients will go elsewhere. Call centers are so much more than merely staff training. The staff have to be good, but you also need to set them up for success with appropriate technology, tracking, software, scheduling, and structure.In this episode, Michele Santagata, CEO of Santagata Consulting, shares her expertise running call centers big and small for behavioral health.
How does a first-time entrepreneur bootstrap a treatment program starting with outpatient and then gradually building a full continuum of care? In Arizona, many treatment programs were started, and almost as many failed within short order, Tyler Tisdale, CEO of Pinnacle Peak Recovery, shares his story of success and what it took to get there, how he succeeded where so many others did not. He takes us through the pivots, systems, processes, and strategies that have made Pinnacle Peak one of the leading providers in the Greater Phoenix area.
AI, call flows, tech stack, and intelligent routing, all to improve call center conversions, decrease staff burnout, and reduce patient frustration on admissions calls. We'll talk about all that and more with Karl Fischer, Managing Director of DecisivEdge.
Everyone wants to know, "How do we get the best reimbursement rates possible?" Stu Segal, Principal at FlormanTannen, and I discuss this question in depth. Obtaining better reimbursement rates requires far more than asking for them or "hard-nosed negotiation." Instead, it requires planning, patience, outcomes data, and relationships, all integral pieces of successful negotiation with payers.
Through focused training and ongoing feedback, therapists can significantly improve their intervention skills in order to achieve stronger patient outcomes. With the payers focused on outcomes more than ever, the time is now to hone in on ways to strengthen clinical delivery.Zac Imel, Chief Science Officer of Lyssn and Professor in Psychology. speaks with me on the research regarding therapeutic skills and fidelity in clinical delivery. We talk about specific skills and actions therapists can take that help them become better therapists and help patients obtain better outcomes through the therapy received.
Payer expectations continue to change every year and so provider RCM benchmarks and best practices need to change as well. We're seeing more payers deny contracts or opt to not renew contracts based on a variety of trends in SUD.In this episode, I speak with Erin Burke, CEO of Hansei Solutions. With over 1 million processed claims from providers across the country, they have a ton of data to inform strategies for sustainable operations and strong payer relations.
Building the backend data infrastructure to track both business metrics and clinical outcomes is costly and time-intensive. Even for a medium-sized organization, this can cost upwards of $500,000 per year, so the last thing anyone wants to do is build it wrong or get off on the wrong foot.Dr. Nick Hayes, Chief Science Officer at Cumberland Heights, walks us through their best-in-class data science department. He and his team built out what I consider to be the best setup in the field.Nick shares how they built it, what that setup looks like, the outcomes they've gotten, and how it's helped Cumberland improve as an organization overall and deliver even better outcomes for patients.
As more programs implement patient outcomes tracking, it's become clear that care delivery becomes more effective when tailored. Some programs may be excellent with veterans while another may do better with something as specific as women using heroin over 40. Efficacy in delivery changes by demographic, geographic location, and even individual clinician delivering programming. In this episode, I speak with Eric Gremminger, CEO of ERP Health. We take a look at how providers are starting to implement outcomes tracking and the changes they're able to make as a result to improve results for patients.
The delivery of group therapy hasn't received an update or serious attention since Irvin Yalom's work back in the 50's. Because most therapy delivered in addiction treatment is group therapy and, as a field, we're finally talking about trackable outcomes, it has become clear that improved techniques are needed.Andrew Bordt, Executive Director for The Institute for the Advancement of Group Therapy, and I walk through the neurobiology of learning and how effective group facilitation can significantly improve outcomes not just in the group, but beyond as patients reintegrate into their daily lives.
There are many opportunities for payers and providers to work together in order to improve care and reduce barriers to treatment.In this episode, Debra Nussbaum, Senior Director of Behavioral Health at Optum, provides insights into what she looks for when partnering with a provider. She also explains what not to do and gives us a look at Optum's new provider portal to expedite UR.If your program has in-network contracts, you won't want to miss this episode.
Through the integration of digital and peer recovery supports, JourneyPure was able to double improvement of recovery outcomes compared to treatment as usual.In this interview, Dr. Brian Wind, Chief Clinical Officer of Regard Recovery and JourneyPure, shares how the integration of these supports came about, what results they've seen, and the success they've had in getting reimbursed for those efforts as well.
Specialty tracks are springing up all over these days, the most common being veterans, first responders, and LGBTQ. Some providers have also embarked on specific faith-based tracks, but these programs are not easy to do well. In this episode, I speak with Devora Shabtai, VP of Clinical Development for Onward Living. Having built both Christian-specific and Jewish-specific tracks at different providers, she walks us through the logistics and complexities of faith-based programming to help providers do it right.
Bringing a company out of bankruptcy is hard. Taking over marketing for an acquisition that's bringing in far less revenue than you thought it was is also very hard. Former CMO of both Foundations and Promises, Kathy Frossard, walks us through lessons learned through two large acquisitions. In particular, we discuss the viability of a national brand play in commercial SUD and why no one to date has been able to successfully accomplish it, though many have, and are, trying. We then discuss our thoughts on what to do differently in order to make that happen.
We've seen a tragic record of over 100,000 overdoses in the US last year. The common narrative is that overzealous marketing by pharmaceutical companies and overprescribing of opioids by medical professionals created a new wave of individuals addicted to pills that then turned to heroin when the pill supply dried up.
However, according to SAMHSA's data, rates of addiction in the general population didn't change at all. So, while overdoses have skyrocketed, the percentage of the population struggling with addiction has not, meaning that the data doesn't exactly match the common narrative.
Dr. Singer is a physician and owner of a group surgical practice who has also become a Senior Fellow at The CATO Institute, advising on opioids, drug policy, and other topics. In this interview, he walks us through a lot of the data from SAMHSA, NIH, other research to help us take another look at what's happening in our country around drug use and overdoses. It's an episode you won't want to miss.
50 years of research has confirmed contingency management as one of the most effective treatment modalities out there both as a standalone and in conjunction with 12-step, community reinforcement approaches, and others.
Yet, it's hard to find funding or reimbursement for it and most providers haven't even considered integrating it into their programs.
In this episode, I speak with Eric Gastfriend, CEO of DynamiCare Health, a digital therapeutic platform with contingency management at its core. We talk about the research, the challenges to implementation, and what the academic literature says about doing it right.
The MAT space has traditionally done very little in the way of marketing due to how underdeveloped the space is as well as the high demand for services from Medicaid patients. But, like addiction treatment and psych hospitals before them, as more and more providers have entered the space in a maturing market, reliance on being the only provider in town is no longer a viable strategy.
BrightView is far ahead of what were once many of its much larger competitors because they started marketing back in 2019 before any MAT providers were doing so. Colin Jeffries, VP of Marketing, gives us insights into their reasoning and strategy in this episode of the Recovery Executive Podcast.
Conversations around diversity, equity, and inclusion in behavioral health are just beginning, so many providers don't know where to start. Or maybe they get started with a DEI statement, but are unsure where to go next.
To make matters more complicated, DEI as a field is in its infancy and many DEI initiatives and practitioners offer little more than window dressing, lacking organizational alignment, KPIs, or tangible outcomes that executive teams can realistically support for the long-term.
In this episode, I interview Zina Navarro-Rodriguez, owner of Z&D Consulting. Like me, she is a Certified Diversity Executive (CDE). We answer questions such as:
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What should DEI look like in behavioral health?
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How do we effectively engage different communities, both those struggling with addiction and those looking to work in the field?
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What's the role of straight white men in DEI?
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Why does DEI need to align with pre-established core organizational objectives rather than operating under its own agenda?
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Do we really need unconscious bias training?
It's a great discussion. Enjoy.
We end up exploring two topics in this interview with JD Kalmenson, CEO of Montare Behavioral Health:
1) How can screens help tailor treatment programming? 2) How can therapies such as TMS, Neurofeedback, or Ketamine be used in a continuum of care?
This is one of my favorite interviews to date. How did a little-known provider start with one facility and grow to nearly 700 beds with a 99% run-rate for the entire year so far? How do they plan to grow to 40 facilities within the next year and a half?
The answer is Matt Boyle, CEO of Landmark Recovery. Matt and his team have created a model by thinking completely outside the existing playbook of addiction treatment. In fact, they saw what others had been doing in the field and made a conscious decision to do away with most of what they saw.
Matt was incredibly gracious to share his strategies and many actionable tips on what scalable, long-term growth that works looks like.
Should you buy or lease? What's the advantage of hiring an attorney, vs an architect for zoning, vs a broker? Did you know you can get free rent or money for renovations built into lease agreements and renewals?
This episode with Colin Carr, CEO of CARR Healthcare Realty, has many practical tips for sourcing locations as you start or expand your program.
Alumni programming is critical to patient success post-treatment as well as the financial stability of the program. Michael Maassel built Harmony Foundation's alumni program from scratch to the point where Harmony sees 40 or more admissions a month come through alumni referral.
She has created an extremely engaged alumni community that benefits from a wide array of in-person and digital services. Join us on this episode to learn how she did it and how your program can do the same.
PR is often delegated to the marketing team or not done at all at many behavioral health organizations. Ted Bender, CEO of BeWell Network, sees it differently. Across roles and organizations, he has consistently become a go-to source for local media outlets, becoming the face of the company in the community. Now, he is even hosting his own national videocast on YouTube with some famous individuals.
What's his process for gaining media exposure and, as a CEO with countless demands on his time, how does he decide how much time to allocate as well as the return on that investment. Join us for this excellent discussion as we answer those questions on this episode of the Recovery Executive Podcast.
Success in business is often about making big bets with limited data. However, consistency in execution and leading indicators can often fill in some of those data gaps over time. This approach to business growth and success works particularly well for marketing.
Jason Perillo, CMO of High Watch Recovery, discusses some of the massive bets they've made recently and how they measure success and ROI over the long-term.
What are the forces that drive valuation? How does an owner know what a reasonable sale price is and how does a buyer calculate how much they should pay?
This is not a simple calculation. It depends on many factors both internal and external to the business. Dexter Braff, President of the Braff Group, walks us through his 15+ years of experience doing M&A in the field of behavioral health.
Some of the terminology we use in this one can be a bit difficult to differentiate, and can be used differently by different people, so a couple of definitions:
Price - the final amount paid for the asset, which could be very different from the asset's intrinsic value.
Speculation: The concept of paying a price above intrinsic value because the buyer believes they can sell it for an even higher price in the near future due to current market dynamics rather than underlying business fundamentals.
Valuation (Intrinsic Value): The amount that the asset is worth based on business fundamentals, not including any frothiness in the market that may be over or undervaluing assets in a particular class or vertical.
There are multiple sources of capital to fuel growth for providers or to simply de-risk portions of the business. A sale-leaseback is one such vehicle that operates as an alternative to traditional bank debt or private equity. Patrick Haynes, Managing Principal at Wellness Realty, walks us through the pros and cons of the various types of financing and how they can work to provide much-needed capital or accelerate expansion for behavioral health providers.
Business development is a revolving door at many providers and remains one of the greatest areas of opportunity across behavioral health. How does one recruit, retain, and effectively train reps to bring out the best in them? I speak with Jordan Young of Jordan Young and Associates in this episode to learn just that.
Digital therapeutics are a new form of treatment where a doctor or other health professional prescribes digital content. Just like any other medication, the patient needs a written prescription.
Pear Therapeutics has several FDA-approved digital therapies on the market already, including for addiction treatment. They provide low-cost and surprisingly efficacious care.
Dr. Yuri Maricich, Chief Medical Officer for Pear, fills us in on this innovative form of treatment, how it fits into current continuums of care, and the results they've seen to date.
Rural areas hard hit by addiction are, unfortunately, often the least likely places in which to find treatment services, especially ones that accept Medicaid. The challenges to creating such programs are many.
Nikki King, Manager of Behavioral and Addiction Services for Margaret Mary, overcame these challenges. In this episode, she shares with us her innovative approaches to stakeholder collaboration and program funding.
Removing barriers to treatment and improving patient outcomes are two of the core elements of any treatment program's mission. In this episode, I speak with Steve Randazzo, CEO of Aware Recovery. Aware is an innovative, home-based addiction treatment program that works with patients for up to a year providing extended care from a team of professionals. We discuss the logistics, outcomes, and payer relationships that have evolved over time as Steve and his team continue to grow Aware, now expanded into 9 states.
60% increases in patient responsibility collections? Patients sending thank you notes after paying their bills? Reduction in AMAs? Creating payment plans based on risk stratification data according to patient background? If you thought collecting deductibles and co-insurance would somehow have negative repercussions on your program, then you need to listen to this episode, where I speak with Chris Wolfington of FinPay on strategies to do all of the above.
Looking at 4 key quadrants that are the life's blood of any behavioral health system or treatment program, we explore the do's and don'ts of successful turnarounds around growth strategy. Gary Larcenaire of Project Ity has decades of experience doing both, so I'm excited to share his expertise on this episode.
After 40 years in the addiction treatment space, Doug Tieman is passing the torch as he retires. The industry has changed a lot in 40 years. Doug gives us insight into how Caron has changed and adapted in the field as well as how the field as a whole has changed, including how it will need to continue to change to meet the needs of tomorrow's patients.
I thank Doug for his service and commitment to the recovery space. It was a pleasure getting his insights in this interview.
Improving clinical outcomes is dependent on feedback-informed care models. There is tremendous opportunity in the treatment space to track, analyze, and improve based on data. In this episode, I speak with Jared Dempsey, Chief Scientist at Trac9, where they have collected data on over 200,000 patients and already identified key data points that help their clients improve outcomes. I found this discussion incredibly valuable and know you will too.
How do you take a large problem, like an intake process that takes too long, and reduce time from call to admission by 80% or more in 3 months? Now how do you create a system that facilitates that kind of improvement across every department every month?
That's what Sam Klinger, Director of Continuous Improvement for Rogers Behavioral Health, walks us through in this episode. As you can guess, your head may spin at the complexity of what a rapid improvement process entails, but, by the end of the interview, we'll have it broken down for you in a way that makes it understandable and actionable.
Navigating addiction treatment for patients can be very complicated. There are PCPs, therapists, court systems, and pharmacies to manage, just to name a few. Patient Care Coordinators can help patients through the complex array of paperwork and tracking during a time when they need to be focused on recovery. Kat Lehnert-Scott of Ashley Addiction Treatment walks us through the role and benefits to patients.
What do you do when people need their pain medication, especially for chronic pain patients? How do you manage both the addiction and the physical health needs? This is an extremely important question more programs should be asking.
Ashley Addiction Treatment has created a special Pain Recovery Program. Jessica Vickers joins me on this episode to walk us through that program and how it helps individuals in this particular situation.
There has been growing focus on how outcomes tracking can support both improved patient care as well as improved relationships with the payers.
Tom Britton, CEO of Gateway Foundation, has spent a lot of time an energy building outcomes tracking into their programming. In this episode, we hear how he did it and what results they've gotten.
Every leader has had to manage through crisis at some point or another and, with covid, everyone has a fairly recent experience. Kathleen Murphy, SVP at Farnum Center, had to manage through multiple crises during covid. The decision-making process, data needed, and sheer speed of events make crisis management far different from the normal day-to-day.
In this episode, with covid as a background, we look at lessons learned from leading through any crisis and what it tells us about being prepared, how to operate in the crisis, and what takeaways exist after.
Addiction Campuses has an entirely new leadership team post acquisition and they're completely transforming the company around value and quality. Matt Morgan, the new CEO, is leading that charge, and someone I am personally a big fan of.
Coming with extensive experience growing and scaling large healthcare companies, he brings us fantastic insights into how he's applying that expertise at Addiction Campuses.
Healthcare laws are complex to say the least. Regular attorneys just don't know enough, which is why I'm having Harry Nelson, Managing Partner of Nelson-Hardiman on this episode. We look at the current legal landscape for addiction treatment, how it's changed, and what are some of the pitfalls like free housing, travel arrangements, and marketing.
Ever had to turnaround an organization that was bleeding money and make it profitable? It's not easy. Manny Nsien, COO of Shadow Mountain Recovery, walks us through his experience doing exactly that. Then he talks further with me about what it takes to succeed in today's treatment landscape. I personally consider Manny to be one of the best COO's in the business, so get ready for some great insights.
Billing and Revenue Cycle Management is far more than submitting a claim followed by checking to see how much was collected. There are numerous steps in the process and not having them operationalized is a quick way to start losing serious revenue. Ben Dittman, CEO of Avea Solutions, walks us through the systems and processes providers need to know.
How do you get industry leading performance out of your business development team? The answer, not surprisingly, is different than what most providers focus on with their business development and community outreach teams.
In this episode, I speak with Amy Kelley, VP of Business Development for Promises Behavioral Health, We go through the tactics, strategies, and philosophy that has enabled her to build one of the highest performing teams right now as the company rebuilds after the old Elements bankruptcy. It's a tightly focused conversation packed with value. Enjoy.
Families really want to help their loved one, but often feel at a loss. In some instances, they even feel actively discouraged from supporting their loved one for fear of being labeled an enabler or co-dependent.
In this episode, I speak with Carrie Wilkens, founder of The Center for Motivation and Change, where we explore a heavily evidence-based, but little used strategy, called CRAFT (Community Reinforcement and Family Training).
It's been 2 years since our last podcast on mergers and acquisitions. A lot has changed in that time. Kevin Taggart, Managing Partner at Mertz & Taggart, shares insights into the M&A landscape in behavioral health this year.
Have valuations changed? Are residentials and traditional PHP/IOPs even on the radar anymore? Where is MAT trending? What's with all the talk around Autism? Kevin answers all these questions and more.
Maintaining consistent clinical quality at 80+ facilities is no small task. How can you create standardization across the organization while also allowing for your own clinician's talents to shine through?
We also dive into the importance of skills-based therapies as a very necessary component of effective clinical (as opposed to simply psychoeducation). Lori Ryland, Chief Clinical Officer for Pinnacle Treatment Centers and someone I hold in high esteem, joins us on this episode.
Most facilities are moving in-network, but contracted rates offered by insurance providers vary wildly from almost criminal to very well-compensated.
What's the process for going in-network and what can providers do to get the best contracted rates possible? In this episode, we talk with Lee Peterson, who facilitated negotiations for all of Hazelden Betty Ford's in-network contracts, to learn tips and strategies to get the best possible outcome for your program.
We know how important peer recovery support for improving the chances of long-term recovery, but how do you make it part of a sustainable business model?
As an aspect of treatment that isn't much reimbursed yet, and that also has low margins, how can providers offer this valuable service in a way that doesn't compromise their ability to stay afloat. Trey Laird, CEO of The Lighthouse CT, shares some answers.
The largest, longest enduring companies in the world have brand. Think Coca-Cola, Starbucks, Nike. WeWork, on the other hand, had hype. In addiction treatment, there was a lot of hype, but little brand, which ended up being the downfall of many a treatment center.
Many owners & operators don't understand brand. It's viewed as fluff or a byproduct of marketing. However, brand is actually one of the most important assets your business can build.
Why is that so? How do you do it? These are questions Kelly Farrell, CEO of designRoom, and I answer on this episode.
Joe Pritchard, CEO of Pinnacle Treatment Centers, joins us to talk about their continuing success driven by quality clinical care, focus on mission, regionalization, and, most important of all, patience.
With decades of experience in the field, and starting out as a behavioral tech himself, Joe offers us insights into what it takes to grow into the role of CEO, and turning 4 centers into 80 across a full continuum of care.
Put simply, addiction is extremely complicated. It's not genetics, it's not choice, it's not neurochemical imbalances. Instead, it's a complex interaction of all of these.
On this episode, I have one of the world's leading neuroscientists on addiction, Dr. Marc Lewis, walk us through the neurobiology of addiction in laymen's terms. My hope is that we're able to bridge some of the gap between the neuroscience and clinical practice, something notoriously difficult to do, but I believe we provide some strong insights on ways to do so.
What does the future hold for insurance reimbursement in addiction treatment? Is it bundled payments or value-based care? What does it take to build relationships with payors and get higher reimbursements? Is it really true that payors paid high amounts for urine screens just to offset excess profit?
Doug Nemecek, Chief Medical Officer for Cigna, answers these questions and more in this episode of The Recovery Executive Podcast.
A large percentage of callers into any treatment centers are moms looking for help for a son or daughter. Yet, it turns out that many rehabs are doing a poor job of meeting these mothers' needs.
Ally Aabram, a mom who has a son that has been through 20 rehabs, talks about her experiences, where rehabs could better support mothers, and why so many moms are losing faith in rehabs as a viable option to help with addiction.
Unlike the rest of healthcare, it's not uncommon in addiction treatment to hear of programs not collecting patient responsibility - co-pays, deductibles, and other out-of-pocket expenses.
Some programs fear that, because "everyone else does it," they have to as well or won't be able to compete. This is not the case, and TJ Ferris, CEO of The Revenue Solution, walks us through how that's done the right way.
We also need to mention that programs that collect patient responsibility portions of bills are also much more profitable than ones that aren't.
Moving from clinician to the CEO of Addiction Campus's Treehouse center, Ted Bender has helped turn around struggling centers and accelerate the growth of successful ones.
He shares his experience as a clinician and an executive leader in terms of what to do first and where to focus in order to achieve success when coming into a new program.
Methadone has often gotten a bad rap within the addiction treatment space, and sometimes for good reason. Perhaps this is why so many treatment providers are unfamiliar with how it works both clinically and as a business model.
CEO of Community Medical Services, Nicholas Stavros, walks us through the numbers of how many people their centers help (sometimes 1,000s a day!) and how the business model compares to programs that don't incorporate MAT.
Hazelden Betty Ford is one of the most successful programs in the country. Their name is known across the US and they're succeeding even while other programs struggle to keep the lights on.
Bob Poznanovich shares some of the strategies and tactics that contribute to their success from a business development and sales perspective. It's an episode you don't want to miss.
Value-based care is coming. The payers want it. Lots of people are talking about it, but none of us really know what it means. Jacob Levenson, CEO of MAP Health Management, enlightens us on the ins and outs, as well as how to prepare for this shift.
Clinical excellence is certainly the core of any program, but this isn't just about the quality of the work. Organizational, Administrative, and Development aspects of clinical programming are just as important to a program's success.
Andrew Sidoli, an experienced Executive Clinical and Operations Director, gives us insights into what these systems should look like. We also examine the critical element of integrated feedback loops within the clinical process to truly deliver patient-centered care.
Aftercare is an essential part of addiction treatment, but often overlooked in the field. In addition to therapeutic work, there is a strong need for life support and skills, which is exactly what Coalition Recovery's Renaissance program focused on educational attainment is all about. CEO Alexander Ronzino gives us the scoop on one way to add on this much needed continuation of care.
CEO of American Addiction Centers, Michael Cartwright, talks about the ups and downs of both AAC and the industry over his long-standing career building several companies and non-profits in behavioral health. He answers the questions of where the field has been, where it's going, and how his particular approach to business aligns with those developments for AAC.
Jonathan Wolf, CEO of Pyramid Healthcare, is arguably one of the industry leaders when it comes to intentional, sustained growth through both de novo expansion and M&As. He shares his 40 years of insight into the behavioral health space and what he looks for when determining where and when to expand Pyramid Healthcare.
Clinical research and data is a sorely underused resource in our field. Deni Carise, Chief Scientific Officer for Recovery Centers of America, goes into all the ways you can use it to improve your program. Even beyond ensuring you have evidence-based programming that delivers real outcomes, there is huge value in knowing the data from a marketing, business development, and knowledge of coming trends in the field perspective. This definitely isn't an episode to miss.
Out of network insurance is like the Wild Wild West. You never seem to know what, or even if, you'll get paid, and the insurance payors have a lot of power. Anne Bahr, VP of Collect Rx, shares some tips and tricks to beat them at their own game using insider knowledge on this episode of The Recovery Executive Podcast.
Business Development referrals have dropped from 10 or more a month down to 3 or less per rep. Why is this happening? Some of it has to do with a shift in the field, but much has to do with the way BD reps are trained, managed, and go about their jobs. With decades of experience working for centers large and small, Tony Faulkner shares with us the strategies crucial to maintaining good referral channels for your program.
Peer Recovery Support Coaches/Specialists are just starting to gain traction in the recovery space. Benefits, payment models, and role responsibilities are all still being worked out. In this episode, I speak with Brandon George, Executive Director at Indiana Addiction Issues Coalition, who is spearheading the expansion of these positions in Indiana.
Something as simple as the process you use to verify VOBs can make or break your admissions process. Jon Wagner, CEO of Verify Tx, and I talk about what a good admissions process looks once you've actually got people on the phone.
Building a center the right way is extremely profitable, but takes much longer than people assume. How do you have the patience to build a strong foundation that drives quality clinical care, community engagement, and profitability all at the same time? Zach Snitzer, Co-Founder of Maryland Addiction Recovery Center, and I did into some of these issues on this episode of The Recovery Executive Podcast.
A poor admission phone rep can convert multimedia inquiries at 1% or less. A good one can convert 10% or higher. That's a potential 10X difference in admissions! I speak with James Hadlock, owner of BluNovus, where we talk about how empathy and compassion on the phone can 10X your admissions on any quality of calls.
Most EMRs are just emulations of the old paper filing systems, but they can be so much more. I speak with Matt Stevens, CEO of Alleva, who has reinvented the EMR. We talk about what treatment centers need to know to make a switch from paper to digital, some pitfalls to avoid (especially around avoiding HIPAA fines), and some interesting opportunities happening in the field related to telehealth near the end.
Two industry titans talk SEO, Adwords, Digital Marketing, and Winning Strategies for long-term growth. Dan Gemp, CEO of Dreamscape Marketing joins me on the episode to not just talk general strategy, but get into some of the industry benchmarks you need to know as well as common mistakes to avoid. If you're census is hurting, you don't want to miss this episode.
Billing & Revenue Cycle Management are one of the biggest thorns in the side of treatment centers. It's difficult, expensive, and, very hard to know if staff or vendors are doing it right.
In this episode, we talk with Gregory Keilin, CEO of Prosperity Behavioral Health on some of the most common ways billing companies don't necessarily work in your best interest, what you should be looking for, and some really interesting info like how to make Medicaid billing work.
Up to 25% of centers have closed in South Florida, Southern California, and other highly competitive areas of the country. Lyle Fried was the owner of The Shores, a well-known treatment center in Florida that just closed last month. He shares his insights into why they closed and what he would have done differently if he could do it all over again, critical information for any centers facing a similar situation today.
Foundations Recovery Network went from 20,000 calls a month and a low census to 10,000 calls a month and significant climbs in census. Most centers are thinking about admissions, business development, and marketing wrong in the addiction treatment field. In this episode, Kathy Frossard and I talk about how to rethink and integrate these departments to deliver serious results.
The Ammon Foundation is probably one of the first philanthropic organizations springing from the addiction treatment field to focus on grants in recovery rather than scholarships for treatment. We explore how philanthropic activity ties into reducing stigma, providing value, and growing the business wing.
Addiction Unplugged is a new show highlighting recovery and fighting stigma. The show features a unique center in every episode. Stu and I talk about the value of such a show and how TV spots like this can and should be used from a marketing perspective.
When you've personally made over a billion dollars in healthcare and have seen the devastation addiction can wreak on your extended family and community, you decide to do something about it.
That's the story of Bryan Cressey, who I interview live at his office in Chicago. With decades of experience helping healthcare organizations grow, he also has the ability to see what is and isn't working in the field.
So when he decided to start the non-profit Above and Beyond Family Recovery in Chicago, he had a unique vision to revolutionize the field. This is his story and his vision.
Our field needs strong leadership. We need visionaries who see the future and are able to make the hard choices in these rapidly changing times. In this episode, I speak with the Co-Founder of Phoenix Rising on what's lacking in the field today, what we need to see instead, and how following those guidelines has helped him build his own center.
If you're looking for some hard-hitting perspectives on the field and are willing to step outside your comfort zone, this is the episode for you.
80% of all treatment centers follow a 12-step philosophy. While this approach has helped so very many people, there are those it doesn't work for. As we know, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to treatment.
And there is a large hunger within the marketplace for alternative programming, which is why programs that provide alternatives to 12-step attract an untapped market.
In this episode, I speak with Reed Smith of Centered Recovery on how their mindfulness program has helped them grow their new center as well as helped patients who didn't feel at home within a 12-step program, ultimately aiding them in their recovery. Join us for this interesting discussion.
You may be surprised to hear that one of the best treatment centers in the country is a small non-profit catering to mostly homeless and low-income populations in downtown Chicago. Above & Beyond is only 2 years old, so many people have not heard of them, but they are doing phenomenal work, as I can personally attest to. I'm super excited to share my interview with Dan and help you learn more about this amazing place that's taking such a huge lead in advancing the field of addiction treatment.
Alumni engagement is becoming ever more critical both for successful, long-term treatment outcomes, and for the health of the center. I speak with Parker Polidor, Co-Founder of CaredFor, about how alumni engagement is a whole team effort and the value it brings to patients and staff alike.
In the increasingly crowded and competitive addiction treatment space, differentiation is key for success. In this episode we talk with Recovery Unplugged's VP of Business Development, Dr. Barry Reiman to share insights into how their unique focus on music drives both outreach and internal clinical programs.
One of the cheapest and easiest strategies to build referrals and drive admissions is that of hosting CEU events. Surprisingly, it's also one of the most underutilized. In this episode David Houke of Austin Recovery gives us a step by step walk-through of exactly how to set these up at your center. You'll be amazed at how easy it is and wonder why you aren't already hosting them.
Business Development has hit a wall with reps bringing in a third the number of referrals that they used to. One reason for this is that they move around too much and enough time isn't invested to drive results. In this episode, we talk with Elisa Saunders who has experience at both Acadia and Foundations. She gives insights into why reps stay or go and we also discuss strategies to ensure success.
What does it take to run a nation-wide treatment center operation? What are key factors for growth and success? What metrics do you need to keep your finger on as a CEO? Drew Rothermel has worked at the C-suite level for both Caron and Origin Treatment Centers, and is now CEO of Liberation Way. He has a vast knowledge of running large scale operations and answers many of these questions for us in this can't miss episode of The Recovery Executive Podcast.
Telemedicine is the next big disruption in the field of addiction treatment and behavioral health. Either centers will learn how to incorporate it into their own program, or it will likely put them out of business. Richard Capezzali has been in the field of lead generation and addiction treatment for years, having build and sold numerous companies. He now turns his attention to telemedicine in the addiction treatment space. This is an episode anyone focused on the business-end of the addiction treatment world needs to listen to.
Industry veteran and Founder of both Lifeway International and Cates Academy, John Cates, talks with us about the power of alternative peer groups. Treatment outcomes are as much as 3 times better when APGs are used. In this episode, we talk about how APGs can be used not only to improve treatment outcomes, but also successfully grow and expand your program.
The differences in responsibilities and focus for clinicians versus senior executives can be large, intimidating, and challenging to navigate. Robin Piper, CEO of Turning Point of Tampa, shares with us her journey from clinician to CEO, and gives advice for those looking to make the same move. She also shares ideas and strategies to ensure strong collaboration between clinical and businesses focuses. Lots to learn in this episode!
Models Against Addictions is an NYC-based non-profit started by Asia Janina Dyrkacz, a Polish immigrant. In this episode, we talk about her passion for using the celebrity or role model status of models to combat addiction as well as the addiction problems sometimes common in the profession.
A lot of owners, execs, and directors find it very hard to leave their center and attend an industry conference, but the rewards for doing so are tremendous. In this episode, we connect with Dee McGraw, Director of Education and Event Services for C4 Recovery, which runs the famous West Coast Symposium. We look at why conference attendance is so important and how to make the best out of any you go to.
Call center operations and staffing is probably the biggest gap most centers have in their admissions process. Without an efficiently run and staffed call center, the majority of inquiries, and therefore potential patients, is lost. In this episode, Char Musillo talks about his experience building call centers for programs big and small. If your census has taken a hit lately, you do not want to miss this episode.
Alumni engagement is critical not just for success in long-term recovery, but also for a treatment center's bottom line. It's an area that few centers do well, but a huge opportunity for low cost returns when done right. In this episode, I speak with James Crater, CEO of Spera Health and an expert in alumni engagement.
Going from a single-person private practice to a center owner will many employees is a huge challenge. In this episode, we talk with Karen Peabody, owner of Forgewell Solutions, about her journey from solo therapist to owner. We also have a thorough discussion around insurance reimbursement and how to ensure you are getting the most for your patients and your center.
A new and growing trend in addiction treatment is a focus on health - dieting, exercise, nutritional supplements, etc. NAD fits into that category. This episode explores what NAD is and goes on to discuss the value of niching down to a very specific target demographic, and how that has helped Future New Detox grow fast without having to worry about competition.
MAT is a growing, and controversial, trend in the field of addiction treatment. In this episode, we try to provide a balanced view to the pros and cons both from a treatment and a business perspective. The aim is not to convince one side or the other, but to provide information that helps center owners and directors make the best decisions for themselves, their staff, and their patients.
Did you know it's illegal to pay a patient's plane ticket to come to your treatment center? Ethical marketing is front and center for the field these days, but many providers aren't up-to-date on all that entails. In this episode, we speak with Andrew Martin, COO of Behavioral Health Association of Providers to learn the latest information, how to stay compliant, and how ethical marketing actually drives more admissions than most other patient acquisition methods.
Novus Detox runs a 60-bed detox that turns over every patient every 7 days. Connecting with new patients to keep their census up is important and Novus has been successful doing so purely with PPO policies and cash pay for over 10 years. In this episode, Kent Runyon, the VP of Community Relations discusses how their community involvement and engagement strategy leads to the invisible ROI behind their success.
The tracking of clinical outcomes is no longer an option in addiction treatment. Not only does it help centers improve patient outcomes, but it's now required by the Joint Commission AND insurance payers will be requiring it for reimbursements in the very near future.
In this episode, we speak with Joanna Conti, Founder & CEO of Vista Research Group, who explores outcomes data and what it means for centers while providing advice on how to get started if you haven't yet.
As this is mandatory for both accreditation and insurance reimbursement, you can't afford to miss this podcast.
The addiction treatment space is going through a massive consolidation at the moment. 75% of centers are still small and locally owned, but they are being beaten out or swallowed up by larger outfits and buyers as the industry matures.
Many centers are facing the tough choices of closing down, selling, or seeking investment capital to grow and compete. In this episode, we sit down with Jacob Lynch of Stoneridge Partners to cover major trends in mergers & acquisitions within the addiction treatment space, how to set up your own center to be successful in this environment, and specific tips and strategies for growth.