Organizational policy and procedure vary greatly by state, levels of care, and specific functions of an organization. With consulting staff and resources located across the US, Southworth Associates can create Policies and procedures specific to your facility and treatment modalities. While many consulting services offer cookie-cutter policies and procedures, our goal is to capture the true daily operations within an organization. As a result of these services, the company’s policies and procedures align more intuitively with their organization. To learn more about our organizational procedure and policies services, reach out to Southworth Associates today at (866) 460-9014.
Why Are Organizational Policies and Procedures Important?
For substance abuse treatment professionals, formal organizational procedures and policies are critical. They ensure that your employees are adhering to recognized professional practices. They also guarantee that the employees comply with statutes, regulations, and other accreditation requirements that organizations such as HIPAA and the Joint Commission have set forth. In addition, these organizational procedures can reduce the variation in practices to standardize the patients’ care within your organization. Furthermore, organizational policies provide a helpful resource for your staff, which reduces their need to rely on memorization. Without relying on memory for standard operating procedures, they are less likely to make mistakes.
What Can Organizational Policies and Procedures Do?
In the world of substance abuse treatment, organizational policies and procedures are critical for keeping both your staff and patients safe. An inpatient addiction treatment facility may have specific rules to manage their patient’s safety. For instance, it may establish regulations about detox procedures to ensure that the patient is able to go through the detox process as safely and painlessly as possible. A treatment facility may also develop organizational procedures and policies within different areas of the center to ensure that they are adhering to the regulatory requirements that treatment centers must meet.
Organizational policies and procedures are also in place because they are critical for documenting financial responsibilities. Many addiction treatment centers receive payments from insurance companies or government organizations, such as Medicaid. As a result, they need to document how they’re using the payment and treating the individual. Simultaneously, the treatment center needs to be able to document any underlying issues so that they can work with any aftercare services that they may provide. Organizational policies and procedures can ensure that your staff knows how to document the patient’s treatment in the proper way. This method protects the long term health of the patient and your staff from legal action.
An addiction treatment facility requires organizational policies and procedures to ensure your employees are operating at their best. For instance, your policies can ensure that your staff knows what to do in an emergency. Your procedures can provide the framework for decision making but allow your staff to have the freedom to choose from multiple options. Your addiction treatment center should update its organizational procedures and policies each time you adopt new equipment, technologies, and patient protocols. Doing so will ensure your staff knows what to do in any given situation.
Contact Southworth Associates
Policies and procedures within the substance use disorder treatment and mental health treatment spaces can also achieve many goals. Whether you are trying to attain Joint Commission Accreditation, CARF Accreditation, or State Licensure, we eliminate unnecessary redundancy and streamline the materials to be more user friendly. We also offer a range of other consulting services, including:
- Organizational design
- Strategic hiring
- Program development
- Business development strategy
- Admission protocol training
- Legal resources
If you have questions about our organizational policies and procedures services for behavioral health, please contact us at (866) 460-9014 for more information.