OPEN MINDS Consultants & Advisors

Areas of Expertise

• All aspects of behavioral health administrative functions, including finance, compliance, risk management, human resources and facilities

• Information system selection and implementation

•  Administrative and information technology requirements for effective functioning in a managed care environment

Mr. Rutherford joined Northside Mental Health Center in 1992 as the Director of Management Information Systems responsible for the direction and oversight of all technology functions at the organization. He was also involved in the creation of the Florida Health Partnership, a partnership of five mental health agencies bidding on the implementation of the Medicaid Waiver in District 6. Mr. Rutherford also became a Certified Independent Consultant with CMHC Systems and has been involved in activities ranging from new user implementations, managed care training and setup, and the design and re-implementation of systems incorrectly managed.

Joe left Northside in 1998 to become a partner with the consulting group of Behavioral Management Solutions, Inc. For five years his company assisted behavioral health care organizations in all administrative areas including finance, managed care administration, development of utilization review systems, management information systems (including initial and re-implementations), performance review, costing, etc. He left this partnership to accept a position as Associate Director at Northside in 2003, overseeing the administrative functioning at this organization including the supervision of the: Business Office, Management Information Systems, Human Resources, Clinical Records, In-House Pharmacy, Purchasing and Facilities. He also serves as the Risk Manager, managing all incident reports and securing all insurance coverages.