Running a drug and alcohol addiction treatment center is difficult for drug rehab owners. Understanding the medical side can be just as important as understanding the business side. Marketing is also another critical element. Failure to understand these essential elements can be the difference between running a profitable drug and alcohol addiction treatment center and having to close the doors.
Drug Rehab Owners Must Be Knowledgeable
Billing and marketing are the two most significant areas a drug rehab owner needs to know. However, rehab owners must handle other factors on an ongoing basis. Here are just a few of the areas they must concentrate on.
- Mortgage or Rent
- Staff Payroll
- Legal Fees
- Medical Billing Company
- Software to run the business (medical billing software, marketing software, and CRMs like Salesforce)
- Marketing
- Electric Bill
- Food
- Payer Trends
- Licensure and Audit
- Consulting
- The addiction treatment center offers clinical treatment – including but not limited to alcohol detox, drug detox, residential inpatient, intensive outpatient, and outpatient care.
These are just a few budget items of concern for drug and alcohol addiction treatment center owners. They are required to make hundreds of decisions to make every day. They often must see something that will help in one or more of these areas before it resonates with them—the successful owners researching new and innovative ways to streamline their workflows and day-to-day operations.
Rehab Owners Are Unsung Heroes
Many think drug rehab owners have easy jobs but even acquiring the capital to open a drug and alcohol addiction treatment center is difficult. There are many roadblocks to navigate before they can open their doors. Some of these may include the following:
- City Inspections
- Zoning
- Payer Specific Requirements
- Remodeling and Construction
- State Licensure
- Accreditations
These are just a few to get the door open, but keeping the doors open is no easy task. The new mission is to ensure they can cover the monthly expenses and still have some money left to turn a profit, unlike in 2014 when owners with minimal experience could profit quickly in the treatment industry. The competition is more significant, and there are new laws governing how you must operate and even how you can market your drug and alcohol addiction treatment center. The insurance companies are not paying like they were back then.
Many addiction treatment center owners have given out scholarships for care. They do this often; however, there must be a limit at some point. They would like to give everyone free treatment, but unfortunately, they need money to pay all the bills associated with running a center.
The Biggest Obstacles for Drug Rehab Owners
Operating a substance abuse rehabilitation center is expensive, and the dollars add up quickly. If the owners and operators ignore the billing and marketing, their business will fail. They need to know precisely how much policies are paying and how long it will take for the center to get paid. Eliminating the guesswork is paramount. instantvob® has spoken with many drug rehab owners, and everyone has said, “We needed to decrease the amount of time it takes to run a VOB.” Allowing admissions teams to have this information upfront increases admission volume. Often, they need this information on nights and weekends when the insurance companies are closed. Even during the weekdays during business hours, you could spend one hour on the phone verifying benefits! Typically, the outreach coordinator must call the patient back when they finally get the information. Suppose the center had instant verification of benefits software. In that case, they could have put that person on hold for about 60 seconds to run the instant verification of benefits while the patient was still on the line.
What Do the Smart Drug Rehab Owners Know?
Smart drug rehab owners understand to listen and research before deciding if the product or service will save them time. This includes decisions on the medical and business sides of operating a drug and alcohol addiction treatment center, a critical piece of advice.
One person cannot perform every job needed to operate a drug rehab. Take, for instance, medical billing. There are so many things to know that they would have had to work for a medical billing company. The more prominent centers rely on billing companies because of the qualified staff with experience in substance use disorder treatment billing.
Consider the difficulties of marketing. Here you must decide whether you want to pay Google to keep business coming in or pay a good drug rehab SEO agency to get your rehabilitation center ranked on page one. Either way, this takes a particular set of skills that many owners do not have. Owners often choose a “boots on the ground” strategy. While this may seem to work initially, it will not compare to using Google (AdWords or SEO). Remember, Google gets 40,000 searches every second. If you rank on page one, your phone is going to ring.
Smart drug rehab owners have a good handle on revenue cycle management. They know how much money they need to come in to sustain themselves at any given time. This is critical because the bills must get paid.
Keeping Those Admissions Coming In
Drug rehab owners, unfortunately, need to have new admissions every day. Once a center is up and running, they need to concentrate on the admissions volume. It is more than a numbers game because if the owners can pay all the bills, they are more likely to provide more scholarships for care. They cannot offer scholarships if they can’t keep their doors open.
This area requires much attention on outreach. Like any business here, you want as many different buckets going on at the same time as possible. Some of the areas may include the following areas.
- Networking and Events
- SEO (search engine optimization) Ranking on page one organically and in the “Google 3-pack”
- Google AdWords
- Facebook/LinkedIn (Paid Marketing)
- Court System
- Developing relationships with hospitals
- EAP’s
- Alumni Program
These are just a few areas to keep admissions coming in. Increasing admissions is the hardest part about running a drug and alcohol addiction treatment center, especially now that pay-per-click advertising requires Legit Script certification before running a campaign. This type of advertising involves much capital, with a dozen competitors spending $500,000 monthly in pay-per-click.
instantvob® Increases Admissions for Drug Rehab Owners
instantvob® provides immediate and accurate information on the benefits of a potential client. Let us show you why we are the best instant verification of benefits company. We can provide benefits on nights and weekends, even when the insurance companies are closed. We assist many drug and alcohol addiction treatment centers in increasing their admissions with our intuitive app. Get your completed instant verification of benefits in less than 60 seconds!
- acquire a patient’s active status
- get the exact deductible
- the amount of co-pay needed
- co-insurance information
Outreach teams and admissions coordinators must be able to quickly advise on whether they will be able to admit them into your treatment center.
Increase Your Admissions Volume. Call Us Now!
Drug and alcohol detox centers, inpatient, intensive outpatient, and ambulatory facilities need tools to make more accurate admission decisions. instantvob® has helped many substance abuse rehabilitation centers save countless dollars in unknown insurance reimbursements. Get the critical decision-making information your outreach staff needs.
Our web application is affordable, and we can get you up and running in one phone call. Having this information will not only increase admissions but will also help in the revenue cycle management process. You will have a clearer picture of what is coming in from the insurance company and when you should receive payments. Call us at 561-530-5755, and let us make your job easier.
