Program Consulting
Your journey into better outcomes.
I have spent my career working in treatment facility settings. In doing so, I have noticed and worked to understand the inherent “tensions” that arise in these settings. Additionally, I have seen the benefits of implementing innovations that can help facilities run smoothly and improve patient outcomes. Once I left the treatment industry as a provider and a leader, I turned my attention to using my experience to help improve the quality of care and employee satisfaction in as many facilities as possible.
“Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do.”
- Potter Stewart
Efficiency
Teams work best when the infrastructure is efficient and supportive. The medical and behavioral health industries are challenging for any team, with inherent tensions and competing interests. Capitalizing on ways the operations can be tailored and streamlined can go a long way toward productivity and morale. Some of the more common areas for improvement include company-wide communication channels, workflow systems, program content organization, and unifying the vision and mission, among others. An outside perspective can be helpful in strategizing solutions. One of the most important things I can communicate to your team is that I am one of them. I have experienced leadership turnover and the arrival of operations specialists who implement sweeping changes. I am a knowledgeable therapist, not an operations specialist. My greatest strength is listening to your people.
Technology
Tech advancements are always on the rise. Incorporating good technology into the workflow can cut down on “busy work”, reduce human error, and increase quality care. AI, when used as an assistant, can improve payer rates, facilitate timely documentation, and enable your skilled employees to focus on enhancing care and furthering their education and training. Tools that streamline administrative tasks can help close gaps in best practices, increase better payor reimbursements, reduce full-time equivalent (FTE) needs, enhance program organization, and ultimately improve overall effectiveness.
Programs
Good program development takes precious time. I have seen a lot of good programs lean on their talented clinical team to structure specialized programs (this happened to me). Often, this leads to therapists struggling to do their best work in clinical practice or in program development due to the inherent tension of time constraints.
I have also found a target area for program development that is neither too structured nor too flexible. The last thing I want to do is stifle the talent you hired by forcing a rigid curriculum. On the other hand, our clients do better when they have a path forward and can see tangible signs of their hard work and progress—don’t we all?
Staff Training
Something I have noticed over the years is a gap in training for non-therapist staff. Agencies often employ staff in various roles, including nursing, hospitality, behavioral health technology, administration, and finance. All of these departments typically lack a fundamental understanding of mental and behavioral health. I have found this to be a critical component of patient care. I have seen unfortunate interactions that can be prevented with more education. Common trainings are de-escalation and trauma-informed care. We know these trainings are often seen as a drag or a box that needs to be checked by the participants. I am eager to offer engaging and meaningful training for these departments that can be applied practically and provide assistance with managing our activations.
In addition to these departments. I can also offer some more advanced training for the therapy teams.
In-House Intensives
Along with solid program structure and organization, in-house intensives can set programs apart. Three to five day long intensive programming can move clients further in their recovery progress more quickly. In the same way that psychedelics need preparation and integration to be most effective, this principle also holds for experiential therapy processes. To get maximum benefit, the clinical team will need to prepare the clients before and provide integrative therapy after intense experiential work.
I can provide tailored and targeted intensives sensitive to the the size and needs of your population. I will work with the clinical team before to ensure maximum benefit from the work.
Unity
One of the wonderful aspects of treatment is its multidisciplinary approach. A treatment team consisting of therapists, doctors, nurses, case managers, specialists, and other professionals offers comprehensive assessments and case conceptualization. Optimal conditions for this are when the different disciplines are united in an overarching theoretical orientation and are aligned on goals. While it’s safe to say that everyone on the team wants the best for the patient, sometimes this can manifest differently within and across disciplines. There is a bit of an art to helping teams unite where they need to and maintain their valuable input.