INSIGHTS AND PERSPECTIVES
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In early 2026, Utah quietly crossed a regulatory threshold that many states have debated but none had yet implemented. Through its regulatory sandbox authority, Utah approved a pilot program that allows an artificial intelligence system to autonomously renew certain prescription...
- Sariah Hopkins
A recent state audit has identified widespread deficiencies in how Minnesota’s Department of Human Services oversees behavioral health grant funding. The review examined hundreds of millions of dollars distributed to support mental health and substance use disorder programs across the...
- Atlantic Health Strategies
Behavioral health organizations are experiencing a steady rise in payer audits, post-payment reviews, and documentation requests. Medicaid managed care organizations, Medicare Advantage plans, and commercial payers are using more sophisticated analytics to flag billing patterns, documentation gaps, and medical necessity...
- Atlantic Health Strategies
Compliance oversight becomes exponentially harder across state lines Managing compliance oversight and quality assurance for a multi-state behavioral health organization is fundamentally different from doing so at a single-site or single-state level. Each state brings its own licensure rules, Medicaid...
- Atlantic Health Strategies
Clinical vision alone does not create a sustainable behavioral health program Launching or improving a PHP, IOP, detox, or residential behavioral health program is one of the most complex undertakings in healthcare operations. These programs sit at the intersection of...
- Atlantic Health Strategies
Licensing, accreditation, and payer rules rarely align on their own Treatment centers are expected to satisfy state licensing requirements, meet payer expectations, and comply with accreditation standards—often at the same time. Each system has its own language, timelines, documentation standards,...
- Atlantic Health Strategies
Compliance problems usually start before the first client arrives Building a behavioral health or addiction treatment program from the ground up sounds straightforward in theory. In reality, it requires aligning clinical care, operations, compliance, staffing, documentation, billing, and oversight—simultaneously. Many...
- Atlantic Health Strategies
Behavioral health clinics operate in one of the most complex IT environments in healthcare. Electronic health records, telehealth platforms, billing systems, security requirements, and compliance obligations all intersect—often across multiple locations and states. Generic IT managed service providers may offer...
- Atlantic Health Strategies
Mental health practices rely on technology for far more than scheduling and recordkeeping. Electronic health records, telehealth platforms, billing systems, and secure communication tools all sit at the center of care delivery. What makes mental health IT different is sensitivity,...
- Atlantic Health Strategies
Compliance leadership, operational discipline, and accountability in the age of AI In today’s behavioral health environment, compliance is no longer a background function. It is a core operating system that touches clinical care, billing integrity, workforce management, data security, and...
- Atlantic Health Strategies
Behavioral health organizations rely on technology more than ever, yet they operate under tighter margins, heavier regulation, and higher clinical risk than most healthcare sectors. IT failures in this space don’t just slow operations, they can disrupt care, trigger compliance...
- Atlantic Health Strategies
State legislatures across the U.S. are moving aggressively to regulate artificial intelligence in health care — including how AI is used in clinical settings, payer reviews, patient communication tools, and mental-health technologies. With more than 250 AI-related health care bills...
- Atlantic Health Strategies
Speed, leverage, and operational fluency matter more than software alone. For behavioral health providers, implementing an electronic medical record system is one of the most consequential operational decisions they will make. It affects clinical workflows, billing accuracy, compliance posture, staff...
- Atlantic Health Strategies
In December 2025, the Ohio Board of Pharmacy issued an emergency rule declaring that kratom-related products are now illegal to sell, distribute, or possess in the state. This sudden regulatory shift reflects growing concern among health officials about the safety...
- Atlantic Health Strategies
Licensure Isn’t Just a Form; It’s an Operational CommitmentEvery mental health or substance use treatment center begins with the same question: How do we get licensed in our state? It sounds straightforward, but state licensure is rarely a simple checklist....
- Atlantic Health Strategies
Georgia House Bill 584 takes effect January 1, 2026, transferring licensing and oversight for several behavioral health facility types—including SUD programs—from the Department of Community Health (DCH) to the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD). On paper, it...
- Atlantic Health Strategies
Behavioral health leaders search for all kinds of resources when Joint Commission accreditation approaches, consulting firms, mock survey experts, online training programs, software tools, checklists, and virtual support. The volume of options can make it feel like accreditation is a...
- Atlantic Health Strategies
Virginia has introduced a new gatekeeping step for organizations seeking to open high-priority behavioral health and addiction treatment programs. Beginning November 7, 2025, any applicant pursuing a Priority 1 or Priority 2 service license must complete a state-designed training and...
- Atlantic Health Strategies
Behavioral health providers often think of scalability in terms of growth—more locations, more services, more lives reached. But in practice, the real question isn’t how fast an organization can expand. It’s whether the underlying operational structure can absorb that expansion...
- Atlantic Health Strategies
A federal grand jury in Little Rock returned a sweeping indictment in late November 2025 against psychologist Krameelah Banks, charging her with 23 counts of wire fraud, seven counts of making false statements in connection with health care matters, and...
- Atlantic Health Strategies
The Center for Disability Services (CFDS), a longstanding provider of medical and behavioral health services in the Albany region, announced in late November 2025 that it will discontinue its psychiatric program by December 31. The decision affects approximately 1,100 patients,...
- Atlantic Health Strategies
PHI breaches hit behavioral health the hardest. A PHI breach is never just a technical failure. For behavioral health providers, it carries deeper consequences; legal exposure, regulatory pressure, clinical disruption, and a loss of patient trust that takes years to...
- Atlantic Health Strategies
Behavioral health leaders looking for specialized consulting often find themselves choosing between generalist healthcare firms or boutique groups that lack operational depth. Atlantic Health Strategies was created to close that gap. The organization functions as a behavioral-health-only MSO, supporting programs...
- Atlantic Health Strategies
Pathfinder Recovery is preparing for strategic expansion into the State of Connecticut, building on its established foundation of excellence in behavioral health and substance use disorder treatment. The initiative aligns with the organization’s long-term growth plan to increase access to...
- Atlantic Health Strategies