Featured report
The Fragmented Journey Index: where behavioral health loses patients between the front door and aftercare
Addiction and mental-health treatment behaves less like a continuum than a series of narrowing gates, and at every gate, people are lost. This report assembles public government and peer-reviewed data into a single map of where the losses concentrate, from the first sign of need to long-term recovery.
Independent reporting and practical guidance for everyone touched by behavioral health: families, people seeking treatment, the professionals who provide care, and the organizations that deliver it.
For parents, partners, and families of someone struggling with addiction.
Understanding addiction and mental health treatment, and what recovery looks like.
For counselors, clinicians, interventionists, and the leaders who develop them.
For owners and leaders who run behavioral health programs.
More recent articles
Documentation and Compliance
Measurement-Based Care, Without the Busywork
Measurement-based care means using a validated symptom measure to guide treatment, not just to report on it. Done right, it catches deterioration earlier and shows patients their own progress. Done as paperwork, it is a survey nobody reads, and most programs are still stuck at paperwork.
Michael J. Wilson Jr., CIP, CFI ·
Revenue Cycle
Utilization-Review Denials Are a Documentation Problem
A utilization-review denial is rarely a verdict on the care that was delivered. It is a verdict on whether the record proved the care was necessary, at the right level, on time. That reframes the whole problem, and points at the fix.
Michael J. Wilson Jr., CIP, CFI ·
Documentation and Compliance
What the ASAM Criteria Ask Your Documentation to Prove
The ASAM Criteria decide which level of care a patient needs, and for how long. But a placement is only as strong as the record behind it. The six dimensions are the language a payer uses to decide whether to pay, and each one needs current, patient-specific evidence.
Michael J. Wilson Jr., CIP, CFI ·
Family Recovery and Self-Care
Grief, Fear, and Guilt: The Emotions No One Warns Families About
Families of addiction carry grief for someone still alive, fear that never fully rests, and guilt that answers no logic. This is why those feelings show up, what the research says about family focused support, and concrete steps to help you carry the weight without being crushed by it.
Michael J. Wilson Jr., CIP, CFI ·
Admissions & Referrals
Follow the patient, not the paperwork: the behavioral health referral is where the business leaks
In behavioral health the referral is the business, and it leaks at every seam: the after-hours phone, the verification that forks when a patient changes levels of care, the partner nobody can prove sent the admission. Studies show completed-visit rates ranging from roughly 30% to 55%, with the largest losses occurring before a visit is ever scheduled.
Michael J. Wilson Jr., CIP, CFI ·
Clinical Practice and Supervision
Telehealth Skills Every Behavioral Health Professional Now Needs
Delivering therapy through a screen is a distinct clinical skill, not just in-person work relocated. Consent, risk assessment, licensure jurisdiction, and documentation all change. Here is what clinicians, supervisors, and program leaders need to build competence deliberately, plus the CE and credentialing rules that vary by state and board.
Michael J. Wilson Jr., CIP, CFI ·
Documentation and Compliance
The Golden Thread: The Through-Line Payers and Surveyors Read
The golden thread is the documented line connecting a patient's diagnosis to their treatment plan, and every service and note back to it. When it holds, care is coordinated and claims are defensible. When it breaks, revenue and survey readiness break with it.
Michael J. Wilson Jr., CIP, CFI ·
Levels of Care
What Detox Really Involves, and Why Medical Supervision Matters
Detox is the first step of recovery, not the whole of it. Here is what medically supervised detox actually involves, why the setting is chosen based on risk rather than preference, and why it must lead into ongoing treatment to matter.
Michael J. Wilson Jr., CIP, CFI ·