The first 90-days of our patients’ recovery journey are critical. That’s why we’ve set a goal this year for all centers to have 70% or higher retention and adherence to the program during that timeframe. To help us achieve this, Dr. Ben Nordstrom, our Chief Medical Officer, and his team are working to support the field with clinical and quality program enhancements and
Regional Directors (RDs) and Program Directors (PDs) are closely collaborating with their teams. Centers in Alabama, Northern Virginia and Washington D.C. are leading the way and are sharing best practices here for all of us to consider.
Regional Director
| Alabama Regional Director Maury Long oversees 12 centers with 175 staff who serve 4,750 patients. Over the past quarter, the region had a significant increase in patient retention from 71.3% to 77.3%. Maury said a mentor from his early career taught him about servant leadership and how to help people put their best foot forward. Maury’s competitive nature and love for patients and operations guides how he works closely with his PDs. |
| “I enjoy winning, but I hate losing more than I like winning, I also really care for people. I’m blessed to have some really outstanding team members. I give them the credit. They’re hardworking, dedicated and committed to excellence.” |
| 1. Meet often. Talk openly. During weekly trainings, ensure everyone believes in what they’re doing and that we’re all going in the same direction. Review our mission and values and ensure we’re exemplifying them daily with care, hope and respect in every single patient encounter. 2. Assess your COWS (Clinical Opiate Withdrawal Scale). There have been instances where patients’ pain and well-being levels had changed, but that information wasn’t shared with their doctors and medications weren’t adjusted accordingly. Assessing COWS twice a week and sharing results with the doctors is helping patients to stabilize and the counseling to take effect. 3. Double down with new patients. Start with two counseling sessions per week to help build trust. Ask how things are going. We can help fill a gap and eliminate barriers to getting the care they need. 4. Hire staff who represent the patient population. For a patient-counselor relationship to work, not only is it important to understand personalities and communications styles, it’s also vital to have a diverse staff made up of different genders and people of color who reflect our community. Patients are more likely to come for help and stay when they can see themselves in their doctors, nurses and counselors. “I’m big on diversity in the hiring process,” said Maury. “This allows me to match patients and counselors better. This has been a big factor in our improved retention.” Implementing these best practices are helping colleagues learn more about each other. Through open dialogue, they’re learning about people’s backgrounds, cultures and how they were brought up which helps them have empathy and compassion when difficult moments or crucial conversations arise. “These steps are important and have given me a chance to educate my teams even further. We have to expand and learn new things. What we have is great, but we’re working to reach morepatients and remove all barriers to treatment.” |
Regional Director
| Northern Virginia & Washington D.C. Regional Director Ahmond Hill oversees two centers with 55 team members who serve 950 patients. Over the past quarter, the region has seen an 8% percent increase in patient retention and is now at 74%. Ahmond credits the leadership of his PDs Tammy Kinlaw (Glen Allen, VA) and Prechelle Shannon (Washington, D.C.) with how they effectively spend time planning, goal-setting, decision-making, motivating and leading their teams toward the vision and mission of BHG. |
| “The counselors and medical staff pour their time, energy and passion into the patients, helping them achieve recovery and begin a new life. They give the patients a new sense of hope. The patients become a part of the BHG family on day one and that positively increases their commitment to the clinic and their recovery.” |
| 1. Great Command = Higher Morale = Better Performance. Ahmond said the best Army Commander he had the honor to serve with gave him this phrase in a hand-written note. These few words have a lot of power and truth behind them. Challenge every leader at every clinic to create and foster a dynamic team that brings out the best in each other. Doing so, will yield excellence in everything that we do. 2. Commit to people and leadership development. Investing and pouring into our teams helps them to become leaders themselves who become more equipped to educate, train and lead with their peers which ultimately inspires patients through their recovery journey. 3. Look for leadership where you least expect it. If we all commit to this investment in people and leadership development, then no matter what we do, who we lead, where we go, we will be unstoppable. |