General Consulting
Accreditation & Licensure
Business Development
Compliance
Non-Profit Services
Healthcare Training
Resources
Resource Presentations
Contact
Home
BLUE BASIN, INC Houston, TX

A Texas-based company helping health care organizations throughout the United States.

For more information, call (713) 397-9098

Business Development

Business Startup
We provide start up assistance for private providers, non profit organizations and government agencies. The scope of our involvement is tailored to each enterprise. Services may include consultation, market research, business planning, and start up management.

Social Enterprise Development for Non Profit Organizations
As funding erodes for non profit organizations many are considering developing businesses that can contribute to both the mission and the bottom line. While some national nonprofits have successfully implemented enterprises, and medical centers have for many years turned departments into self-sustaining businesses (e.g. medical equipment rental, catering, physician practice management), most social service agencies have not. We can help conceptualize, research, plan, and develop the business plan for profitable new businesses.

Business Planning
We research and develop strategic, business, and long term plans for the behavioral health and human services. Our clients include psychiatric hospitals and inpatient units, residential treatment facilities, foster care agencies, community mental health centers and many other social service organizations in the US and Canada.

A Strategic Plan
A strategic, or tactical plan, develops a viable roadmap for an organization based on quantitative and qualitative market, demographic, needs, and financial data, and results in a future vision that informs future decisions. For health and human services, a key aspect of a strategic plan is forecasting future demand for a particular service, e.g. demand for inpatient psychiatric services for elderly patients or demand for therapeutic foster care in a state or county. This is a demand analysis.

Business Plan
A business plan usually focuses on a specific service, program, facility or group of facilities and is used to justify funding and investment. Non profit organizations can use a business plan for grant applications and to assess existing or planned services.
Every organization is unique so our approach to both strategic and business planning is tailored to the objectives, challenges and opportunities of each client. Generally, however, the following steps usually play an important role.

Organizational Development
Through organizational reengineering, we help private and public organizations better meet consumer and community needs. This is accomplished while improving quality, compliance with standards, and the bottom line.

Our Premise
We start with consumer needs rather than internal organizational functions and hierarchies. We identify core processes and work towards cross-functional integration. The impact on most organizations is a “flattening” of hierarchy. This increases service coordination, reduces management layers, and leverages knowledge assets. Transformed companies gain competitive power.

How We Work
We involve consumers, staff, board members, and managers in the process, as well as customers, payers, and regulators. This “customerizing” process is enlightening. Together we establish a series of new and compatible end states that sequence the change process. The old barriers can fall without harming service delivery.
Together, we look for ways to reduce unnecessary layers that increased costs, fragmented services, impeded decision-making, and often just created work that contributed nothing to the delivery of care for consumers. The resulting structure is often team-based and cross-functional. A Core Process Analysis helps visualize the existing and new structure.

Core Process Analysis
This is a way to determine and maximize the activities that drive consumer and payer value. Many organizations develop procedures and traditions that do not contribute real value, add expense, and reduce performance. SCI maps functions, old and new processes, and decision flows, realigning operations for optimal agency and consumer value.

Organizational Structure Redesign
Think network, small flexible business units, with strong, disciplined accountability, driven by performance and value. We help organizations find the right balance between centralized functions and fast-moving, responsive, networked business groups. Structure should relate to strategy, core process, market, and business objectives.

Operations Assessment
An Operations Assessment is a comprehensive study of many aspects of a behavioral health or social service (e.g. a residential treatment program) or a group of related services and business units in relation to key functions, in general:

1. Financial Performance
2. Staff and Productivity
3. Space, Locations, Technology
4. Program Operations & Utilization
5. Market Position & Environment

Outcomes from the study are compared to national benchmarks and recommendations made in the form of a Management Action Plan which sequences objectives, action steps, and time frames.

Our work in this area identifies optimal functions for centralization as well as decentralization. Both can co-exist. We help organizations scale and locate operational units and programs to there most market-intelligent, cost effective, and productive size with the base requirement being better care.

Operational studies are also often conducted relative to increasing financial losses, new competition, eroding funding or market base, organizational restructuring, automating medical records, client tracking, outcomes, billing, and other procedures.

We can help “up and down, over and around” hierarchical organizations become fluid and responsive, tending towards discrete “close to the task” self contained, high energy and multifunctional teams that talk to each other more than report to each other. They stay focused on the consumer, the project and the outcomes.

Workflow Analysis
A Workflow Analysis helps agencies eliminate redundant, duplicative and steps which are currently being performed but that do not add value. Using a variety of cross-functional workflows, cause and effect diagrams (fishbone diagrams), decision trees, and other techniques we help agencies improve their operational efficiency and reduce costs.

Workflow improvements are often used to optimize the steps and procedures for inputting and using information systems.

Efficient workflow, turnaround time on development, knowledge-based, empowered decision making are crucial for cost effective operations, competitive rates, and revenue generation while still maintaining quality care.

Other Tools for Enhancing Operations
We use tested frameworks, national staffing benchmarks and other tools to diagnose and improve operating efficiency:

· Staff Productivity Study
· Staffing Ratios
· Salary & Compensation Studies
· Consumer Access Analysis
· Staff, Consumer, Community and Payer Surveys
· Activity & Time Study
· Physical Plant Study

Coupled with other operational studies, our lead consultants help organizations re-engineer staff assignments, locations, and the operating structure to enhance efficiency, increase staff productivity, and sustain a more consumer friendly program.

Interim Management
We provide CEOs' and executives for interim and turnaround management of substance abuse treatment programs, psychiatric hospitals and inpatient units, geropsychiatric inpatient programs, children and youth agencies, community service boards, mental health centers, and other behavioral health and human service organizations.

We have access to a small network of highly qualified professionals interested in assignments from 3-12 months. These individuals are qualified to assist organizations in restructuring, correcting quality, clinical, revenue, cost, operations, and compliance problems.

Initially, we evaluate the culture, competencies, structure, funding mechanisms, market, systems, or other elements contributing to the problem and quickly, but systematically work to correct them. Communication with staff is critical. After this assessment we develop a succinct action plan spelling out objectives and methodologies.

As the goals of the interim engagement are met, we then help find a permanent executive to further the organization’s financial, market and operating objectives.

We have a track record of improving productivity, and rebuilding positive relationships with staff, board members, physicians, payers, referral sources, state and county government authorities, consumers, and community stakeholders.