Monday, December 4, 2017

8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Treatment center executives and financial professionals are invited to participate in the Retreat’s third annual complimentary golf tournament. A prize is awarded to the winner, but everyone benefits from in-depth conversations while on the course.
 
Sponsored by The Braff Group and Rehabs.com/Recovery Brands
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Registration
3:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Welcome and Policy Update:  The Trump Budget, Federal Funding, and ACA Reform: What Does It All Mean for Addiction Treatment and Behavioral Healthcare?
 
 
The behavioral healthcare community has seen conflicting messages from Washington over the past 12 months. On one hand, the Trump administration and congressional leaders have proposed increased treatment funding for addressing the opioid crisis. On the other, proposed changes to the Affordable Care Act and safety net funding muddle treatment centers’ strategic planning vis-à-vis federal policy. Join the Retreat’s opening session to hear the latest straight from the DC Beltway with expert insight by the Addiction Policy Forum’s president and CEO, Jessica Hulsey Nickel.
 
Sponsored by Vertess
5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
Networking Reception
Meet fellow treatment center executives and those investing in the field at the popular evening networking reception. 
 
Sponsored by Vertess

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

8:00 AM - 9:30 AM

Breakfast and Plenary Session                                                                                                        

 
Dr. Karlin is a pioneer in the behavioral healthcare field. After co-founding CRC Health Group in 1995, he led CRC to become one of the largest treatment operators in the country, with 82 facilities in 22 states and more than 2,000 employees, before assisting in the company’s $1.18 billion sale to Acadia Healthcare. Join Dr. Karlin to hear his unique perspective on treatment center investment, valuation, and growth. 
 
Sponsored by: Stoneridge Partners
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Current Trends in Addiction and Behavioral Healthcare Treatment Center Mergers and Acquisitions
 
 
Following Dr. Karlin’s perspective, hear about the latest trends in treatment center growth, investment, and valuation from the always colorful Dexter Braff. While there were breakout market segments during the year, did any falter?  What is the current thinking as buyers struggle with increasing concerns about out-of-network benefits? ? How has the predicted shift to lower-cost, community-based IOP services progressed?  And how has the interplay of all these factors impacted acquisition demand and treatment center valuation?  The answers to these questions, and more, will provide important context for treatment centers at any stage of growth.
10:30 AM - 11:15 AM
Networking Break
11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
Tales from the Turnaround Trenches: Consumer Demand, Client Engagement and the Role of Innovation
 
 
This session will explore shifts in U.S. demo and psychographics and impact on Substance Use Treatment Providers in terms of programming and client engagement.  Consumer demand is often overlooked in this field.  Buyer psychology and appropriate program offerings must be considered when only 10.6% of those needing treatment are engaging in programs.  Is there a path for innovation as 2018 looms while maintaining profitability with ‘in network’ economics? Actual programs implemented will be examined along with ‘out of the box’ solutions to an ever-increasing demand for services whose supply is lacking, especially related to the opioid epidemic.  
 
 
12:30 PM - 2:30 PM
Networking Lunch and Panel Session
   
Investing in the Business: What to Do to Increase Value and Prepare for Long-Term Growth                                               
 
Panelists: 
 
Moderator:  Doug Edwards, Director, Institute for the Advancement of Behavioral Healthcare
 
Behavioral healthcare organizations faced a tumultuous 2017 with new legislation, new regulations, and new market realities in the first year of the Trump administration. All areas of a treatment center’s business are clearly being challenged to be more efficient and effective as payer stipulations tighten and the field comes under increased scrutiny, even as more people than ever turn to treatment and many opportunities to grow and expand remain. The Retreat has convened five experts to examine the current business climate and suggest tools, techniques, and strategies for positioning an organization for continuous growth and increasing valuation as the market expands amid many ongoing challenges.
 
Upon attending this session, participants will be able to:
  • Discuss technologies that improve the efficiency and growth prospects of a treatment center
  • Identify marketing techniques that will be especially critical to grow a treatment center’s business in the next 12 months
  • Understand the outlook for drug-testing services and the laboratory options available
  • Explain the business improvements that are especially attractive to buyers and/or that position a treatment center well for long-term growth
  • Identify the factors that financial professionals are watching as they consider investment potential in the field
 
Sponsored by Credible Behavioral Health Software, Dreamscape Marketing, Mertz Taggart, and SAS Group, LLC
2:30 PM - 3:00 PM
Networking Break
3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
In Search of Your Perfect Marriage: Affiliation, Partnership, and M&A in Challenging Times
 
 
Behavioral healthcare providers, especially in the nonprofit world, are in the midst of an imperfect storm with new healthcare initiatives likely to encourage the turbulence. Providers are increasingly looking at consolidation and merger/acquisition strategies—including with for-profit providers--as a way to build a stronger foundation for the future, and they are finding a myriad of options from joint ventures to being acquired. The speakers will discuss an array of possibilities for entrepreneurial for-profit and non-for-profit providers with specific case examples to illustrate the range of opportunities, including considerable time for Q+A.
 
Upon attending this session, participants will be able to:
  • Discuss the outline of basic partnership, affiliation, and M&A options available to for-profit and not-for-profit providers aiming to work together
  • Understand the pros and cons of these options
  • Identify tactics for improving an organization’s chances of successfully engaging in M&A or other partnership activity, whether involving not-for-profit providers, for-profit operators, or both
   
7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
"A Magical Rendition of the 12 Steps"
A Twelve-step meeting that's open to everyone.
 
The Institute for the Advancement of Behavioral Healthcare regularly solicits feedback from attendees of our conferences and retreats. This feedback clarified a desire to include a daily twelve step meeting as part of our programs. Most twelve step meetings are anonymous, although tonight we are pleased to provide a very special twelve step speaker meeting where everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend. Our presenter utilizes visual aids to clarify the twelve steps in a very informative, entertaining, and magical manner.
   
Regardless if you have attended thousands of twelve step meetings or tonight will be your first, you will leave tonight’s performance with a new clarity of the twelve-step recovery program. As most treatment centers highly recommend their patients attend twelve step meetings as part of their post inpatient continuum of care, you will not want to miss this opportunity to efficiently learn the twelve steps. 

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

7:30 AM - 9:00 AM
Breakfast and Plenary Session -  The View from the Investor’s Desk
 
 
Private equity firms have transformed the business of behavioral healthcare, although the investor's perspective is often not loudly heard in field-wide discussions about the direction of the industry. Geoffrey Lieberthal will share his perspective, informed by his years of involvement in the field, which includes having served on the board of directors of CRC Health and Aspen Education.
 
Sponsored by: Quarton International
9:00 AM - 9:30 AM
Networking Break
9:30 AM - 11:00 AM
The Art of the Deal: What Goes on Behind Closed Doors
 
 
The merger and acquisition process is usually closed to public view, but there are important lessons to be learned from these transactions, no matter where an operator is in its business plan. Having facilitated multiple behavioral healthcare deals, Cory Mertz and Kevin Taggart will provide insight into this often opaque process with the assistance of Kerry Paulson. Kerry sold Hanblaceya in March 2017 to Constellation Behavioral Health, a portfolio company of New Mainstream Capital, a private equity group based in New York.  Kerry remains active in the company, serving as its CEO. 
 
This presentation will address the both the rewards and the challenges of navigating through a successful transaction in today’s market.  It will also preview life after the sale for an owner who continues to run the business post-closing.   

 
11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
Concurrent Session #1
 
The View from the Back Office: CFOs’ Perspective on the Payer Landscape and Opportunities to Increase Value and Drive Long-Term Growth
 
Panelists:
 
 
Moderator: Julie Miller, Editor in Chief, Behavioral Healthcare Executive and Addiction Professional
 
CFOs and other financial professionals are critical to measuring a behavioral healthcare provider organization’s value and growth prospects, yet these “back-office” leaders are often left out of industry-wide conversations on these topics. Tightening payer requirements and increased government scrutiny are just a few of many reasons that the CFO perspective is more important than ever. The Retreat has assembled a panel of these decision makers and influencers to discuss the reimbursement landscape and how provider organizations can prepare for and invest in growth—with the input and strategic guidance of their financial team.
 
Upon attending this session, participants will be able to:
 
  • Understand the factors that are influencing providers to consider in-network benefit status
  • Discuss the opportunities—and pitfalls—of the changing market for private-pay clients
  • Review how providers can maintain out-of-network status even in a difficult payer environment
  • Explore revenue diversification efforts and other strategies to position a treatment center for growth and increase value
  • Consider how CFOs can be more visible and vocal within their organizations and in the field
 
Concurrent Session #2
 
Legal Pitfalls Affecting a Treatment Center’s Growth
 
 
Behavioral healthcare organizations need to consider legal hurdles when planning their growth strategies. Addressing “not in my backyard” (NIMBY) attitudes, considering when to pursue legal action against payers or government entities that are restricting growth, and other areas pose potential pitfalls. Hear the perspective of a professional who has successfully navigated around these legal landmines.
 
12:30 PM - 1:45 PM
Networking Lunch and Plenary Presentation
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Deep Dive Workshop: Understanding the Treatment Center’s Role in Regards to Patient Financial Responsibility
 
Presented by the American Addiction Treatment Association
 
Insurance companies expect substance abuse treatment programs to act as middlemen and collect payment--including deductibles, copays, and coinsurance-- from patients to meet their financial responsibility. This often causes grave hardship to patients plagued by addiction who cannot afford the high cost of treatment programs. Further exasperating the problem is that insurance companies view the practice of providing “scholarships” or waiving patient financial responsibility as fraudulent. To meet their contractual and legal obligations, treatment center operators must understand their obligations in regards to patient financial responsibility. Thankfully, guidance is available to help providers ensure their compliance.
 
Upon attending this session, participants will be able to:
 
  • Understand the risk of waiving fees and other practices that raise red flags with payers  
  • Discuss how to fulfill patient financial responsibility obligations
  • Identify resources to keep staff up to date with evolving patient financial responsibility requirements