Psychiatric Solutions Inc. Peak Behavioral Health Services, LLC Case Analysis

By: Ernesto Avila Norma Avila Andrea Berg Psychiatric Solutions Inc.Peak Behavioral Health Services, LLCCase Analysis

PSI History • PSI owns or leases 34 freestanding psychiatric inpatient facilities • 75% revenue is from inpatient services • Remaining 25% generated through management contracts with government agencies and medical surgical hospitals • 1 out 3 companies competing for national dominance in inpatient psychiatric care

PSI Mission Statement • Committed to creating a corporate culture which promotes integrity as a fundamental for all decisions by its employees and those with whom the company deals. • Foster an atmosphere of trust, respect, and loyalty from patients, employees, consultants, etc. • Meet or exceed government regulations and laws.

Peak Behavioral Health Services, LLC • PBHS wasacquired by PSI in June 2004 • Private psychiatric 144 bed hospital • Located in Santa Teresa, NM • Philosophy: mental disorders are a result of biological, psychological and social factors • Services: • Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) • Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) • Residential Treatment Center (RTC) for children and adolescents ages 6-18

Strengths • PSI merged with PMR Corporation in 2002 • Strong competitor in psychiatric facilities • Rapid Growth • Remarkable and highly trained staff • Wide variety of services

Weaknesses • Bad press influences • Staff past mistakes • Low staff-patient ratio compared to other hospitals

Opportunities • Aetna buys EAP from Psychiatric Solutions • Awards received • Recent acquisitions

Threats • Universal Health Services and Ardent Health Services which are private companies and ranked 1 and 2 respectively • Unsatisfactory patient visit reviews • Current economy

Communication Problem • Communication between: • Business Development Department • Admissions Department • Negatively impacting PBHS

Communication Problem Business Development Dept. • Business Development Department (BDD) composed of 4 non-clinical, non-business degreed individuals • Director with four years in the position • Senior marketer with three years in the position • Junior marketer with two years in the position • One marketer with under a year in the position

Communication ProblemAdmissions Department • Admission Department has one licensed master level clinician per shift • One clinician covering two twelve hour shifts on the weekends. • All rotate on-call schedule to cover remainder 24 uncovered weekend hours • Clinicians are licensed to assess the psychological status of patients and make recommendations • When admissions’ staff is busy, calls are rerouted to an unqualified member of the marketing department

Communication Problem • Marketers refer unqualified patients in for free assessment • Marketers lack necessary in-depth clinical understanding • Marketers try to maintain a high number of referrals

Communication Problem • Admissions staff spend time processing patients who are not being admitted • Business Development Department blames the Admissions Department for the turning patients away

Consequences of Communication Problem • Patients are not served at PBHS • Disservice: • Patient • Admissions Department • Referral source • Patient wait long hours to be seen • Business Development Department perceives this as the Admissions Department only accepting 1 out of 10 patients at a time

Opposing View • PBHS does not feel that this is an issue, rather that this is just the nature of the business • Senior Management believes that the higher number of phone calls will in turn provide a higher profit

Solution/Recommendation #1 • Adhere PSI’s local and regional marketing teams standards by: • Introducing clinical and business development representatives together • This will enhance both departments to improve the company • Combined expertise of these experts will make both departments well-rounded

Solution/Recommendation #2 • Hire individuals that have an professional business degree for the Business Development Department • These individuals will perform at professional level to improve the company

Solution/Recommendation #3 • Merge Business Development and Admissions Department under one director • This would call for common goals and would minimize conflict while increasing accountability • Merge the two departments under one director to create a common goals and eliminate the blame game • It will reduce the competition between the two departments

Solution/Recommendation #4 • Have a teambuilding exercise that is mandatory for both departments to improve the relationship among them • Use the rope course that is on sit at PBHS to show that they are all on the same team and learn to trust each other

Solution/Recommendation #5 • Downsize the Business Development Department from 4 to 1 staff member. • Use additional funds to hire another full time Admission Department clinician to help the current staff • This will allow for quicker response times for referrals

Conclusions • PBHS has a strong foundation to be leading psychiatric hospital in the El Paso/Las Cruces communities • Proposed solutions may assist the hospital in restoring credibility • Hospital will regain community confidence and will greatly succeed

Psychiatric Solutions Inc. Peak Behavioral Health Services, LLC Case Analysis