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COPYRIGHT 2006 Manisses Communications Group, Inc.
As with any business, anytime behavioral health agencies experience a fundamental shift in reimbursement methodology, leadership worries about the bottom line.
There's good cause for concern: Without sound business practices, such a change can be financially devastating to an organization. That's why the switch from grant funding to fee-far-service is a dicey issue for publicly-financed provider agencies.
Resources have always been tight in behavioral health, and there's little "wiggle room" for error. So organizations that are making the change to fee-for-service would be wise to pay careful attention to the practices of other facilities that have followed this model for years.
Foster predictability, accountability
Joseph S. Krzesni, a senior consultant with Open Minds, a behavioral health consulting firm based in Gettysburg, PA, is also in practice in California, where fee-for-service has long been the norm.
From a managerial standpoint, Krzesni likes the accountability that fee-for-service fosters. Organizations can build budgets around the productivity of providers and the number of billable hours they can provide. When Krzesni proposes fees to a potential payer, he is able to project how many units of service he can provide based on the amount of direct service time that he expects to have available.
"It adds accountability, because I will say to a clinician, for example, 'If you're...
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