There are such varied perceptions about if and how behavioral health inpatient units can be profitable.\u00a0 One CFO of a medical\/surgical hospital said, \u201cThe juice ain\u2019t worth the squeeze\u201d.\u00a0 And, I have heard many CEOs of medical hospitals assume it isn\u2019t profitable and felt it wasn\u2019t worth the headache \u2013 until they actually saw the results.<\/p>\n
There are so many variables associated with making a behavioral health inpatient operation profitable.\u00a0 Profitability is important whether we are talking about for-profit or not-for-profit operations.\u00a0 They have to make money to pay the interdisciplinary team\u2019s payroll, support the expenses of staying open, and cover the capital expense incurred for building the unit(s). If we don\u2019t have a successful operation, we cannot provide necessary services to the vulnerable people we are trying to help.<\/p>\n
I think about operations like following a recipe for baking.\u00a0 If you cut corners or completely skip ingredients, it\u2019s very difficult to get the result you want.\u00a0 The recipe varies by patient population, market dynamics, volumes, and unit size, but the following ingredients are all important:\u00a0 Unit configuration, design of patient flow, therapeutic environment and programming, regulatory compliance and readiness, staffing plan, psychiatric coverage, payer mix, program leadership, managed care reimbursement methodology and rates, access points, referral development plan, and management of accounts receivable.\u00a0 All these key ingredients are used to develop a comprehensive plan for success.\u00a0 Execution of the plan is essential.\u00a0 Without a solid interdisciplinary plan and strong execution, it\u2019s like trying to bake without turning on the oven.<\/p>\n
Inpatient Behavioral Health can and should be profitable.\u00a0 If an existing operation is not running well into the black, there should be discernible reasons why it is failing.\u00a0 From those diagnoses, a strong action plan can be developed – steering toward a path of effective clinical functioning and profitability.\u00a0 For new operations, it is imperative to have a comprehensive interdisciplinary plan developed and executed for a successful opening and long term operation.\u00a0 If you cut corners in the process, it can be bumpy road, with patients not getting the care they deserve and the hospital showing a margin in the red.\u00a0 In response to my old funny and cynical CFO colleague, the juice is worth the squeeze.\u00a0 It can be done!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There are such varied perceptions about if and how behavioral health inpatient units can be profitable.\u00a0 One CFO of a medical\/surgical hospital said, \u201cThe juice ain\u2019t worth the squeeze\u201d.\u00a0 And, I have heard many CEOs of medical hospitals assume it isn\u2019t profitable and felt it wasn\u2019t worth the headache \u2013 until they actually saw the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3227,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[29,35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-behavioral-health","category-finance"],"yoast_head":"\n