Thanks to everyone we met at the Southern California Psychiatric Society Career Day on 12/8. We look forward to working with you. On a related note, we have several new positions available here, in a variety of treatment settings and populations. Looking forward to a terrific new year, we wish the best to you and your loved ones.
-Nancy and Jeff
We (Nancy and I) have experienced the workings of mental health services in California from a number of angles. We have seen it from the perspective of administrators, as a practitioner (Nancy), and as vendor/consultants via Sites Professionals. Our work with Sites Professionals has only broadened our understanding of the complexities of providing good care to clients.
By interfacing with agencies, practitioners, Department of Mental Health administrators, and many others in the local mental health ecosystem we have gained a new perspective on all of the layers of services from top-level funding sources (and their objectives) down to the outcomes of individual clients. In this full-stack of care, there are many different approaches. Especially at the provider level there are differences in team configuration, record keeping and EHRs, treatment philosophies and modalities of care.
There are, it turns out, many ways in which a team can consistently meet the treatment goals of clients while successfully executing the administrative work of billing and coordinating the efforts of individuals within the organization. The most successful are also skilled at planning for and managing change.
How do you do it? How do you maintain a system in which practitioners and staff come and go; in which the treatment goals for individuals are unique and subject to revision? What experiences and lessons would you share with your peers and what questions would you ask?
I believe we are all servicing a common cause, and we have much to learn from one another.
[Join this discussion on LinkedIn.]
Adding a day or two to your psychiatric practice is easy with Sites Professionals. We will sit down with you to get to know your goals, interests and areas of focus, in order to identify placements that match what you’re looking for. We may even have suggestions you hadn’t considered.
From there our role is to make your placement a success, by any means. From credentialing and help during the on-boarding process, to continued technical and administrative support for the duration your placement.
We work with organizations attending to those in greatest need. By working with us you’ll find it easier to help the underserved as a part of your practice.
The Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System, also known as CURES 2.0, comes from California’s Health and Safety Code Section 11165.1.
Effective Oct 2, 2018, all doctors, prescribing schedule II, III and IV to patients for the first time must consult the CURES system no earlier than 24 hours before prescribing (or the previous business day). They are also required to check the CURES system at least once every 4 months thereafter if the controlled substance remains part of the treatment plan of the patient.
Doctors, if you don’t already have a login, you can register at this link.
Organizations that provide medication support services may want to be prepared for a number of changes. These are among the things we think you will want to consider and prepare for:
There are exemptions to this requirement, including certain treatment settings and emergency scenarios. If you think you may qualify for an exemption, we suggest that you first get confirmation from the California Department of Justice. However, our recommendation would be to always check the CURES database as part of your risk management practices.
To better understand the CURES program and its effects, we reviewed a number publications and spoke by phone to representatives at the California Department of Justice and the California Medical Board. Please be aware that your practice or organization may be impacted differently.
California Medical Board CURES FAQ
California DOJ CURES FAQ
California Hospital Association on CURES
We have years of experience in the field of community mental health in California. Whether you are looking to add 1 day or 5 days to your practice, Sites Professionals makes working with at-risk and underserved populations a seamless and rewarding experience. We do this by vetting the agencies and practitioners we work with and carefully matching you based on your skills, experience, and requirements. When you work with us, you have our full support.
The benefits of using telepsychiatry are many. Sites Professionals will help you with everything you need to get set up in no time.
With clients waiting for medication services, are agencies being flexible enough to attract and retain top psychiatrists?
Telepsychiatry is one of the most sought-after perks for practitioners. With it, agencies can deliver medication services regardless of location and with greater adaptability to their scheduling needs. The myth is that clients don’t like it, the truth is that it opens the door to many more practitioners better-matched to your client population and increases access to psychiatric care. Similarly, many agencies would prefer to work with bilingual psychiatrists. I get it, but while waiting for the perfect match, look into implementing translation services. It is often more cost effective and it opens the door to really terrific and skilled practitioners.
Yes, there is a shortage of available psychiatrists but are you sure that’s why you’re having a hard time filling your psychiatric positions?
There are many varieties of staffing, recruitment and locum tenens businesses out there. Most of these businesses take advantage of inefficiencies in the market by casting a wide net and failing to sufficiently vet and match mental health agencies and practitioners. They also provide little to no additional support during the placement.
Sites Professionals puts a tremendous effort into matching qualified candidates to excellent agencies. We work in partnership with practitioners and the medication support team for the duration of placements.
Think of Sites Professionals as augmenting your psychiatric practice. By working with us on a placement, you also get all the added value we provide. Finding and matching individuals to agencies is just the beginning. Before the a placement begins, we will have met with the leadership team at the agency, conducted full credentialing and provided malpractice insurance for the practitioner, and assisted with setup including telepsychiatry and EHR training.
Once a placement has begun we continue to provide technical support as needed, handle time cards and billing, and remain responsive and engaged. Should you need it, we are also available to help your medication team with best practices, feedback on policies and procedures, staffing configuration and more.
The people in greatest need and those most able to help are not frequently neighbors. In a sprawling and traffic-plagued region like California, it can be especially difficult to assemble a team of psychiatric practitioners. Long commutes are often a barrier to otherwise qualified and well-matched individuals. There are ways around this. One of those ways is to use telepsychiatry.
With a little creativity and technical know-how, telepsychiatry can be incorporated into just about any community mental health practice. It can be deployed full time or may be used to supplement in-person coverage. For example, with medication follow-up appointments. Locations can get certified, practitioners can be trained. If you are having trouble getting psychiatric care for your clients, why not give telepsychiatry a try?
Hello there! We haven’t updated our news feed in a while because we’ve been busy adding a new Jobs Page with current listings and putting together a video series for our Practitioner and Agency FAQ pages. Check them out when you get a chance. Don’t forget to connect with us on LinkedIn. Cheers!
In this video we offer some thoughts and pointers for navigating paperwork and building a great support team in community-based mental health care.
We, Nancy and Jeff, have been involved in community based mental health care in Southern California for over 15 years. Our careers followed a path familiar to many in the industry. With bachelor’s degrees in psychology we began as front line staff in a residential treatment setting for juveniles. We both worked our way up to leadership positions, earning master’s degrees along the way. Jeff earned a master’s in business administration and ventured into entrepreneurship. Nancy earned a master’s in clinical psychology and became a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and continued to practice as her career advanced.
Our motivation for launching Sites Professionals is the same motivation that has kept us in the industry since the beginning. We do it for the clients. From our first experiences working to improve the lives of the underserved we understood the need for qualified professionals to commit to the helping field. We know firsthand the challenges and rewards of this work. As our careers have developed we have committed to directing our abilities for the greatest impact on those that need it most. That’s why we do it.