Field notes from behavioral health operations.
Writing for clinicians, executives, and operators building durable practices — accreditation, credentialing, revenue cycle, and growth.
Program Development
September 13, 2026 · 9 min read
Building a Spravato Treatment Program: REMS, Billing, and Operations for Behavioral Health Agencies
What it actually takes to launch and run an esketamine (Spravato) program — REMS certification, monitoring space, prior authorization and buy-and-bill, staffing models, and how agencies get through the setup without losing months.
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How to Start a Therapy Practice: A Step-by-Step Startup Guide
Entity setup, licensing, HIPAA documentation, insurance credentialing, EHR selection, and cash flow — the full sequence for opening a private therapy practice without avoidable delays.
September 11, 2026
CCBHC Grants: How Clinics Win SAMHSA Funding and Certification
What CCBHC grants fund, who qualifies, how the application is scored, and the readiness work that separates funded applicants from the rest.
September 4, 2026
EKRA Compliance: What Treatment Programs, Labs, and Marketers Must Know
EKRA applies to every payer, not just federal programs — and its safe harbor is narrower than the Anti-Kickback Statute's. A practical compliance guide for SUD providers.
August 28, 2026
Protect Your Mission: Stark Law, Anti-Kickback, EKRA & Patient Brokering Risks in Behavioral Health
Understanding Stark Law, AKS, EKRA, and patient brokering risks—including transitional housing and recovery residence relationships—so your organization can stay compliant and protect the people you serve.
June 24, 2026
The Rising Concern of Substance Use Among Our Youth: What Can We Do as a Community?
Why prevention, early intervention, and youth-focused recovery residences are the community-level response adolescents struggling with substance use actually need.
June 17, 2026
Why We Believe in In-House Billing vs. Outsourced Medical Billing
Why transparency, accountability, and direct revenue-cycle oversight make in-house billing the stronger model for many behavioral health organizations.
June 14, 2026
Why Your Clinicians Are Leaving — and What Actually Keeps Them
Turnover in behavioral health isn't a pay problem. It's a workload, documentation, and supervision problem. Here's what the data and the exit interviews actually say.
May 28, 2026
The CARF Accreditation Readiness Checklist Most Providers Miss
A practical, field-tested checklist that goes beyond the standards manual — the operational details surveyors actually probe.
May 14, 2026
Credentialing Timelines: What Payers Won't Tell You
The real cadence of payer enrollment in 2026, where it stalls, and how to keep revenue moving while you wait.
April 2, 2026
Telehealth Compliance in 2026: What Changed and What Didn't
Cross-state licensure, prescribing rules, and documentation expectations have shifted again. A practical update for behavioral health and SUD providers.
March 18, 2026
A Denial Recovery Playbook for Behavioral Health Billing
The denial categories that quietly drain BH and SUD practices, and the workflows that recover the money without burning out staff.
February 21, 2026
Five Practice KPIs That Actually Predict Growth
Most behavioral health dashboards track activity, not outcomes. These five numbers, reviewed monthly, separate practices that scale from practices that stall.
February 5, 2026
Adding a New Level of Care Without Breaking What Works
Lessons from providers expanding from outpatient to IOP, PHP, or residential — and the operational decisions that make or break the launch.
January 9, 2026
Value-Based Contracting for Behavioral Health: A Realistic On-Ramp
Most BH practices aren't ready for full risk — but they can absolutely capture upside on quality and outcomes. Here's how to start without overcommitting.
December 12, 2025
The CARF Readiness Checklist.
A 10-section pre-survey audit covering governance, rights of persons served, clinical documentation, performance measurement, and more. Used by the providers we work with to walk into surveys prepared.
- 10 sections, 40+ verifiable checklist items
- Mapped to CARF, HIPAA, and payer expectations
- Designed for behavioral health and SUD providers
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