RISK MANAGEMENT

I don't think many people really understand how complex and risk laden the behavioral health businesses is.  I recently ran across an article on risk management and behavioral healthcare that I would like to share with you.  The point of the article is how complex an enterprise like New Passages is.  Not many people really know that New Passages does more than provide community-based behavioral health services.  As a CEO of a large behavioral health organization, maybe one of the largest in Michigan, I manage a hotel, a restaurant, a school, laundry services, a pharmacy, clinical services, a research facility, building maintenance and repair, information systems services, and a billing company.  In addition, I oversee joint ventures, contractual relationships, implementation of new technology, major construction projects and their financing, federal and state regulations, competition, the peer institutions, payor relationships and contracts, operational systems, strategic initiatives, vendor relationships, patient relations, media relations, external reviews, audits, and inspections.

Obviously I don't do this alone.  I have a dynamic Leadership Team and terrific employees.  But the bottom line is that as the CEO of this extremely complex organization, I have to pay attention to all of the above.  This is becoming trickier and trickier as the mental health environment has become increasingly more dynamic and in some ways more unstable.  Just as a way to drive the point home, I was sitting with some staff the other day and we were talking about how many meals we thought New Passages prepares in a year.  You won't believe the answer: 1,000,200 meals.  And I'm sure you're saying to yourself that, that is not possible, but in fact, it is.  And when I say, I run a hospital, well; the only difference is that the hospital is stretched out over 60 sites across most of southeast Michigan. I employ doctors and nurses, social workers, and Psychologists.  There's not much difference between us and the hospital, other than the acuity of patients. When I say I run a restaurant, well, just think 1,000,200 meals.  You get the point.

At the end of the day, given the complexities of our business, it's extraordinary to me that we are able to do all this and still stay true to our mission: to provide the best community based behavioral health care.  As always, I welcome your comments.