Blog Layout

Behavioral Health Organization: The Three P’s

Dan Thorne • May 17, 2023

Using the three Ps as a behavioral health organization promotes a positive approach to growth, sustaining, and maintaining a business. 

When I receive inquiries from potential new customers, they ask me about the essential qualities to be a successful behavioral health organization. Having been in this business for over 45 years, I’ve seen a lot of successes and failures. Having sufficient capital, a good business plan, potential payor base. But these elements are not enough to survive in this field. So I tell them about the three P’s.


Passion. With apologies to Mark Cuban, having the desire to be in the behavioral health organization is crucial. The field of healthcare is unlike any other because we are helping people improve their lives, one client at a time. In my experience, almost everyone has a story about why they entered this field. Many were formerly in the system as foster children, had unique mental health challenges, or had families with those challenges. Some of my clients are foster parents or adoptive parents life myself. Companies like Kaiser Permanente use the word “passionate” in their recruiting. We enter this field not to make money but to help others. A company will not succeed without passion or a thirst to help others. Look at most organizational mission statements, and the concept of caring for others is evident.


Patience. There is no quick fix to start a behavioral health organization or attain a new line of services. For example, when organizations want to start a Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Program (STRTP) in California (or Qualified Therapeutic Residential Programs or QTRPs), the process can take three to four years. There are numerous layers of program development and approvals by county and state governments. Many aspiring agencies become frustrated by the length of this process. However, nothing can be done about it because governments are not known for speed. But there is a reason for this slowness. Governments and payors require diligence, or their credibility is lost. Ghost networks plague insurance companies. Deaths occur at group homes.    Be prepared for the long process knowing that your payor needs to be thorough. Patience is a virtue.


Persistence. Along with being patient, the behavioral health organization cannot let things fall by the wayside. Although approvals, new business, and other ventures take time, it doesn’t mean one must wait around completely.  Over the years, networking with people in leading managed care companies or governmental entities has helped to forge collaborations. For example, I had a client who wanted Medi-Cal approval as a residential treatment facility for substance use. A California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) representative requested that an application be necessary. Three months after submission, nothing happened. With contacts I had at the State, we discovered that the PAVE system was the correct avenue. By being persistent, the State fast-walked the client’s process through PAVE, and they received their state certification.  Now DHCS is asking for agencies to help them in the process of expediting the licensing and certification process with a new survey.


Using the three Ps as a behavioral health organization promotes a positive approach to growth, sustaining, and maintaining a business. 

You might also like

Effective and Efficient School-Based Mental Health

Boys teasing and bullying another child.
By Dan Thorne 10 Nov, 2023
To conduct bullying prevention activities, the onus for schools and professionals is to identify the source of the bullying.
Grant writing review by an organization.
By Dan Thorne 10 Nov, 2023
With the rapidly changing healthcare landscape, many organizations are exploring behavioral health grants.
A woman using Motivational Interviewing deciding on pros or cons
By Dan Thorne 14 Jul, 2023
The Pros and Cons exercise also provides the practitioner and client with extra insight into the driving forces behind the client’s need to continue their behavior.
More Posts

Book a Service Today

Share by: