LifeStance Health more than doubled Adjusted EBITDA on rate, volume, and productivity gains. For behavioral health operators weighing a payer renegotiation or a sale process, the public-company disclosures are a live benchmark. Here is how to use them.
Opening a residential treatment center takes 12 to 24 months and hinges on five sequential gates: feasibility, real estate and zoning, state licensure, national accreditation, and payer credentialing. Skip feasibility and you will stall after construction. Here is the operator-side playbook.
There is no ‘Arizona Department of Behavioral Health.’ Facility licensure runs through AZDHS; clinician licensure runs through AZBBHE. Sariah Hopkins of Atlantic Health Strategies breaks down license classes, real timelines, fees fixed in A.A.C. R9-10-106, and how Arizona sequences against AHCCCS, Joint Commission, and CARF.
Starting an OTP means clearing four gatekeepers in the right order: the SOTA, SAMHSA CSAT, the DEA, and an accrediting body. Sariah Hopkins walks operators through the 12 to 24 month critical path, the 2024 rule changes, and the P&L realities.
Behavioral health operators keep asking for fun ways to prepare for Joint Commission surveys. The honest answer: gamified drills only work when they map directly to the BHC manual, NPSG.15.01.01, and the SAFER Matrix. Here is what we run, and what it changes on survey day.
Opening a methadone clinic is not a licensure project. It is four simultaneous federal, state, and accreditation tracks running on a 12-to-24 month clock, all governed by the 2024 update to 42 CFR Part 8. Here is the operator-side sequence.
A behavioral health operator’s guide to the Optum credentialing application: Provider Express submission, CAQH ProView requirements, accreditation choice, NCQA cycles, and what to do when the application stalls at 90 days and your census is waiting.
PsychPlus acquired London-based Koa Health to absorb a proprietary tech stack, not just patients. Sariah Hopkins breaks down what cross-border data flows, BAA gaps, and digital therapeutic reimbursement mean for buy-side diligence and seller readiness in mid-market psychiatry roll-ups.
Behavioral health licensure varies wildly state to state. AHS CEO Sariah Hopkins breaks down what Florida AHCA, Texas HHSC, Arizona DHS, Colorado BHA, and Virginia DBHDS actually want from operators, and where founders lose months and millions getting it wrong.
The Joint Commission’s BHC accreditation runs on chapter-level standards, NPSGs, and unannounced surveys. Sariah Hopkins of Atlantic Health Strategies breaks down the standards that fail operators most often, what surveyors actually score, and how findings translate to payer contracts and deal value.
