September 18, 2006

Managing the Bottom Line is the focus of the 2006 OPEN MINDS Rural Behavioral Health Administrative Management Institute

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania – Managing the bottom line in any health and human service organization in today’s environment can be difficult. Add the challenges of working in rural and frontier locations and management teams need an array of specialized practices to achieve success. There are many factors at play. Transportation and technology are key variables. Compliance is more challenging. Staff recruiting in rural communities demands innovative approaches. The net effect is that service delivery can cost 15% more in rural locations.

“The question for program executives in rural communities is how to adapt management practices to rural areas,” said Dennis Mohatt, Director of Mental Health Programs, Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. The issue of best management practices for addressing these unique rural issues is the focus of the upcoming 2006 OPEN MINDS Rural Behavioral Health Administrative Management Institute: Managing the Bottom Line in Rural Delivery Systems which will be held in Denver, Colorado on October 12 and 13, 2006. The institute was created by collaboration between OPEN MINDS and the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education (WICHE) and is specifically designed for executives and managers of behavioral health and social service organizations in rural and frontier communities.

This institute brings together renowned national faculty addressing key topics:

• You Are Not Alone: Management Issues Facing Behavioral Health & Social Service Organizations in Rural & Frontier Communities

• Dealing With Urban Policy (& Reimbursement Models) in Rural Areas - The Dilemma of Rural Executives

• Managing Information Technology Costs: Return-On-Investment Analysis & Your IT Budget

• Stop Measuring Everything!! How to Collect Less Data, But Do More

• How to Develop the Functional Specifications for Choosing an Information System

• Expanding Services on Limited Resources with a Goal-Setting Module

• Collaborative Management Models for Achieving Economies of Scale: Case Studies of Cooperative Models in the Behavioral Health & Social Service Field

• Integrating Voice & Data Networks to Leverage Technology Investments

• How Technology is Creating New Market Opportunities in Community-Based Settings

• Leverage from Technology in Rural Children's Services

• The Great Divide: Bridging the Gap Between Clinical & Financial Executives on the Issues of Organizational Accountability & Cost Management

• Managing Child Welfare Services in Rural America - The Issues & Some Answers

• An Update on the Costs of Employee Turnover - How to Determine (& Reduce) Your Costs

More information is available on the OPEN MINDS web site at www.openminds.com/educ/omi2006am.htm.

OPEN MINDS