Amesbury Psychological Center (the Center) is a multidisciplinary behavioral health care practice that offers mental health and substance abuse services to the communities of the Merrimack Valley. Our focus is to provide cost-effective, quality treatment. Our mission is to create, promote, and maintain a positive customer relationship with our clients, Anna Jaques Hospital (AJH), payors, associates and staff, and our community.
The market for behavioral health services is healthy, as will be shown by the growth the existing Center has experienced during the past two and a half years. Massachusetts has recently passed a mental health parity bill that will become effective in January 2001. The bill requires insurance companies to develop benefits for biologically based behavioral health disorders similar to those provided for health disorders. This should help sustain the anticipated projected growth. Currently, the Outpatient Psychiatric Center is referring approximately four phone calls a day to other providers.
The key to success for this turnkey project includes:
- An ability to transfer existing hospital behavioral health contracts to the Center.
- Credentialing clinicians in a timely manner.
- Obtaining initial working capital.
- Contracting with clinicians using reasonable rates.
- Developing and implementing a successful billing and collection system.
- Listening to all customers and attempting to meet their needs.
- Obtaining a medicaid provider number.
The business plan provides a map for sustaining growth, improving revenue collections, and increasing our bottom line to produce a profit.
1.1 Objectives
Goal 1: To continuously develop, strengthen, and improve services offered by the Center.
- Strengthen the current payor mix by developing and maintaining strategic alliances with five major behavioral health managed care companies by September 30, 2000.
- Identify and develop strategic alliances with three community human service and addiction agencies by November 30, 2000.
- Identify and foster strategic alliances and networks with eight community medical group practices by October 30, 2000.
- Transfer and/or hire 80% of staff by October 30, 2000.
- Identify and implement a billing system by October 30, 2000.
- Improve the expected receipts rate by 40% from fiscal year 1999.
- Increase all services offered through the Center by 80% from fiscal year 1999.
- Arrange working capital for the initial phase of the turnkey venture.
Goal 2: To strengthen the Center's commitment to excellence.
- Enhance customer service by offering three in-service trainings related to client satisfaction with treatment, accessibility, and staff-client interactions by December, 2000.
- Continuously assess referral base satisfaction through the use of a referral base satisfaction survey.
- Continuously assess client satisfaction from three perspectives: accessibility, environmental factors, and treatment-related factors.
1.2 Mission
To promote the well-being of the individuals and families in the Merrimack Valley community by providing accessible, quality mental health and substance abuse/addiction care for children, adolescents, adults, and their families, utilizing a service system that emphasizes trust, respect, confidentiality, and compassion. We are committed to quality mental health care that is provided in a collaborative effort with consumers' overall health strategies and an array of medical services. We are further committed to the philosophy that we exist for the customer/client.
1.3 Keys to Success
- Secure working capital by start of project.
- Be profitable on a forward basis by the seventh month of the first fiscal year.
- Be cash flow positive by the seventh month of operation.
- Being affiliated with a well-respected community acute-care hospital.
- Managed Care friendliness through cooperation, accessibility, and clinical focus.
- Community awareness of services provided by the Center.
- Ascertain a medicaid provider number and developing an interim plan to function during the application phase.
- Staff commitment to excellence as evidenced by the Center's growth and customer satisfaction.
- Accessibility and responsiveness to the needs of the Center's customers.
- Functioning as an organization that is fluid, responsive, and willing to change in order to meet the frequent shifts of the behavioral health industry.
