Center develops shorter treatments with a clinical and business case.(Treatment Program Profile)

One of the key messages hammered home in a meeting between Pine Grove Behavioral Health and Addiction Services and strategic planning consultant Open Minds several years ago warned of an inevitable downward push on residential treatment stays. The words resonated with Caroline Smith, Pine Grove's director of addiction services, who her-self had benefited from shorter, more intensive treatment in her own recovery journey.

Smith would be tasked with growing the Mississippi-based Pine Grove's business in "intensive workshops"--generally five-day sessions for individuals who are not in active addiction but who face specific barriers to achieving a stable recovery. "I took this on two years ago--we were doing it before, but it hadn't been fully developed," Smith told ADAW.

All managers at Pine Grove and its parent Forrest General Hospital system have what are called "Wildly Important Goals" (WIGs) to achieve. A key goal for Smith has involved increasing participation in (and in turn, revenue from) the intensive workshops, and the effort has …