BHBusiness: Three options to improve your operations in 2016

Choose from one of three learning formats: Join a learning network, take a course at your own pace, or get individual coaching.

Looking for expert guidance in 2016 on how to improve your billing practice to increase collections, negotiate contracts, or discover new health information technology applications? Or maybe you’d like expert guidance in implementing a change?

SAMHSA’s BHBusiness Plus offers no-cost training led by industry experts.  With BHBusiness Plus, you can build your skills with coach support, either as part of a peer network or through independent study.

Join a Network – Registration Extended to January 22

Work with an experienced coach, content experts and a peer network by joining a BHBusiness Plus Learning Network. Focus on one of eight topics in a three-month learning collaborative.

If you’re looking for support for a project specific to your agency, consider joining the Implementers Network. This network is designed for people who know what business practice or process they want to change, but need guidance in making it happen. It’s also for people who have participated in a BHBusiness Plus network and want to take what they’ve learned to the next level.

With this option, you won’t follow a set, pre-established curriculum or work with a peer group. The instruction and coaching are geared toward your project, your team, and your goals. (See related story.)

Take a course at your own pace—apply anytime

SAMHSA’s BHBusiness Plus also offers online self-study for busy behavioral health care professionals who like to learn at their own pace. If you’re ready to get started, you can apply online today for one of our most popular courses:

• Strategic Business Decision Making
• Improving your Billing Practices
• Eligibility and Enrollment
• Negotiating Third-party Contracts
• Planning for the Next Generation of HIT (See related post in the ATTC/NIATx Service Improvement blog.)

Additional self-study options will be available in February for the following courses:

• Costing out your Services: Do you know how much it costs to provide each service?  Are you charging the right amount? Learn how to cost out your services and manage your revenue stream in this course.
• Exploring Affiliations, Mergers, and Acquisitions: Take this course to create a strategy for partnering with another organization.
• Setting up a Third-party Billing System: Have you made the shift to billing payers for your services? Take this course for a step-by-step guide to building your billing capacity.

And available in March 2016:

• New Business Planning: Learn how to capitalize on your organization’s strengths to launch new services.

Watch your email for more information on these new online study options.

Key dates for the BHBusiness learning networks

Application deadline: January 22, 2016

Welcome Orientation: February 2016

Instruction begins: March 2016

And remember, with the BHBusiness self-paced online courses, there’s no application deadline, you can adjust your learning to your own schedule.

More than 1,000 behavioral health professionals have participated in BHBusiness since it launched in 2013. You can read some of their stories on the BHBusiness website. You can also browse the BHBusiness Resource Library for helpful templates, checklists, and tools.

Questions?  E-mail Amy McIlvaine, NIATx Educational Services Director at amy.mcilvaine@wisc.edu