Mental Health, substance use disorder, and behavioral health compliance information for facilities and providers.
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.
Medicaid agencies in five states have throttled new behavioral health provider enrollment over FWA concerns. Credentialing timelines are stretching past 180 days, revalidation packets are getting kicked back, and site visits are pulling apart enrollment files. Here is how operators should respond.
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.
A behavioral health feasibility study quantifies demand, payer mix, licensure pathway, and pro forma economics for a proposed treatment center in a specific catchment. Sariah Hopkins explains what belongs in the deliverable, when operators should commission one, and what disqualifies a market.
Florida AHCA and DCF surveyors keep citing operators for the same handful of mistakes. Sariah Hopkins breaks down what AHS sees in the field, what triggers deficiencies, and what operators can fix before the next survey window opens.
Xylazine, nitazenes, tianeptine, and synthetic benzos are reshaping detox length of stay and acuity, but commercial payer grids and Medicaid MCOs have not caught up. AHS shows operators how to defend medical necessity, win single-case agreements, and stop the denial bleed.
OhioMHAS and the Ohio Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit are using a licensure application freeze as a fraud-enforcement lever in southern Ohio. Kyrstin Corliss and Leah Kendall break down what the pause means for pending applications, acquisitions, and PE-backed compliance programs.
A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Kentucky just indicted Addiction Recovery Care founder Tim Robinson on wire fraud and money laundering counts. Leah Kendall breaks down what SUD operators, boards, and PE sponsors should do this week to avoid being next.
A behavioral health business plan has to satisfy three audiences at once: state licensing agencies, commercial payers, and capital. Sariah Hopkins of Atlantic Health Strategies breaks down the operator-side framework, with named regulators, current EKRA enforcement, and the staffing math that actually survives a survey.
A behavioral health advisory group brings clinical, regulatory, billing, and operational SMEs to the table for treatment center operators. Sariah Hopkins, CEO of Atlantic Health Strategies, breaks down when to engage one, what they should review, and how they differ from a clinical board or compliance consultant.
