7 Tips for Starting Your Own Treatment Center
- Know and Understand Local Regulations. The rehabilitation industry is heavily regulated. There are federal, state, and local laws you’ll need to comply with.
- Feasibility Study & Business Plan. You may have a great idea and a vision, but without a feasibility study, you don’t know if it will work or not.
- Financing Your Treatment Center. You have a few options to get the funds to start your business. ...
- Get Licenses and Accreditations. You’ll need to show potential clients you’re not a fly by night treatment center. Obtain the proper licenses and becoming accredited by nationally recognized organizations.
- Hire Top Staff. Your staff will be the lifeblood of your treatment center. You’ll need to hire caseworkers, managing directors, intake staff, medical staff, maintenance staff, and administrators.
- Create Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) As your facility’s staff grows, you’ll need to create more policies and procedures. SOPs are instructions that tell employees how to perform certain tasks.
- Market Your Treatment Center. In your feasibility study and your business plan, you may have discovered what people look for when searching for treatment facilities.
Full Answer
How do I start an addiction treatment center?
You’ll need to state what your expenses are, such as start-up costs, staff, and the facility itself. Then you’ll need to project how much revenue you’ll make and how many clients you’ll have. 3. Financing Your Treatment Center. You have a few options to get the funds to start your business. One option is to take your business plan and send it out to investors.
How do I obtain licensure for my treatment center?
You must also follow zoning laws. To open a residential recovery center, your facility/livnig location for inpatients must be placed in a commercial zone. The key to obtaining licensure lies in your program structure and Policy & Procedures Manual (P&P). Your treatment center and plan to service the community will be reviewed by the licensing board.
What do you need to start a drug rehab center?
Hire Employees for your Technical and Manpower Needs. Some of the equipment and tools needed to start a rehab center business are those that can be gotten for fairly used such as chairs, beds, computers and such other equipment, and if this equipment are well managed, it could last you for a very long time.
How do I open a nonprofit treatment center?
Jul 07, 2021 · Step 1: What Kind of Addiction Treatment Facility Do You Want to Open? Step 2: Getting Your Drug Rehab Center Licensed; Step 3: Hiring and Training Your Staff; Step 4: Applying for Insurance Accreditation; Open a Drug Rehab Facility Today! Follow Us for Instant Updates
What is the business plan for addiction?
The business plan puts your thoughts to paper and creates what the business will become. This is required by all banks and most serious investors.
How long does it take for organic search to show up?
Organic search ( SEO) is Google, Yahoo, and Bing. The value in organic search is incredible once the results are seen, which can take 4-6 months. Obviously in-order to show up in the search engines, you also need a website. Hire a quality addiction marketing company (like us) to produce a professional website .
How long does it take to get organic results?
As organic results take 4-6 months (which aligns well with how long it can take to get licensure and everything set-up) you can open your doors with clients ready to enter. Rather than starting your online marketing when you get licensure and have 2-3 months of little organic result.
Do you need a license to open a recovery center?
Each state is different, like California. If you have 6 beds or fewer in the state of California, you are not required to be zoned commercial, however, you still need a license.
Is recovery industry different from most?
The recovery industry is not much different than most . Your staff will create an amazing experience for your patients. You need to hire the following staff to open a center:
Is opening a treatment center expensive?
Opening a treatment center can be costly. Your largest investment will be into the property and the people running the center. The issue with answering this question is that each center is vastly different. What type of center are you opening, modalities, level of care, city and state, etc.
Is it advisable to open an IOP in West Palm Beach?
For example, opening a residential and IOP center is West Palm Beach, FL would not be advisable as there are so many in that area already. It’s saturated. However, offering that in Ohio would be very beneficial.
1. Know and Understand Local Regulations
The rehabilitation industry is heavily regulated. There are federal, state, and local laws you’ll need to comply with. Even if you have someone on staff who knows the regulations, as the owner of the facility, you will be responsible for any violations.
2. Feasibility Study & Business Plan
You may have a great idea and a vision, but without a feasibility study, you don’t know if it will work or not.
3. Financing Your Treatment Center
You have a few options to get the funds to start your business. One option is to take your business plan and send it out to investors.
4. Get Licenses and Accreditations
You’ll need to show potential clients you’re not a fly by night treatment center. Obtain the proper licenses and becoming accredited by nationally recognized organizations.
5. Hire Top Staff
Your staff will be the lifeblood of your treatment center. You’ll need to hire caseworkers, managing directors, intake staff, medical staff, maintenance staff, and administrators.
6. Create Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
As your facility’s staff grows, you’ll need to create more policies and procedures.
7. Market Your Treatment Center
In your feasibility study and your business plan, you may have discovered what people look for when searching for treatment facilities.
What is the best way to advertise a rehab center?
Social Media Marketing. Social Media is a great community building and branding tool to use when you start a rehab center. Facebook marketing also provides a great advertising platform in which you can leverage the content you create and put it in front of a large audience.
What is the first step in opening a medical facility?
Obtaining a license is the first and crucial step to opening your facility. You must remember that your patients will be attending your facility to receive help for dire mental health and medical conditions – whatever they may be. Therefore, like any medical facility, you must acquire a license to conduct business.
What is CARF accreditation?
CARF is a non-profit accreditation body that evaluates substance abuse and dual-diagnosis programs. As the largest U.S. accrediting organization for addiction facilities, facilities that have met CARF-defined standards of care have attained the industry benchmark for quality programming.
What is the difference between a large scale rehab and a small scale rehab?
Large scale rehabs tend to have a higher advantage to purchasing as well as marketing sources that would provide referrals. Small scale facilities have more leverage in competition by providing superior service, integration of treatments, and specialized treatments. Think about what your approach should be.
What is the Joint Commission?
Formerly known as JCAHO, the Joint Commission is also the second largest accrediting organization for addiction rehabilitation programs in the U.S. Numerous type of healthcare providers can earn accreditation from the Joint Commission, which has accredited more than 20,000 healthcare programs and providers.
How many people received treatment for addiction in 2012?
Research from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), states that 2.5 million Americans received care at an addiction treatment facility in 2012. The market for addiction treatment according to SAMSHA is estimated to be about $35 billion per year with more than 14,000 treatment facilities in existence.
Why is marketing important in rehab?
Without the ability to bring in new clients, your treatment center as well as your investment, will be a failure. It is highly important that all of your marketing efforts need to be legal, ethical and effective.
How to maintain a facility?
To maintain your facility, you need an income, like a business. It is important to have a solid business plan and pro-forma. This will assist estimating and maintaining income, calculating expenditures/revenue, and your marketing budget. Marketing is the most crucial part of your business plan and pro-forma. These plans will also help ground how much investment is needed to launch your facility.
What is recovery center?
A recovery center is a medical institution, and requires legal licensure, along with plenty of regulation and paperwork. The second issue is keeping the center profitable and open. We have seen many individuals starting up their own centers, without our consultations, forget to solidify a marketing plan. Unlike restaurants, people will not just ...
Why is feasibility study important?
The feasibility study helps decipher the local areas needs, and what centers would thrive. For instance, opening the latter choices in Florida would be inadvisable because there are already so many identical centers there that the competition would be daunting. However, this type of center has higher demand in Ohio.
What is rehabilition recovery?
The rehabilition/recovery industry is similar to other industries in staffing needs. Without a proper staff, a business can fall through. Below is a small, basic set of staff you need to acquire and train.
What is insurance accreditation?
Often they are not recommended, but required to enter into the treatment industry. The accreditations mean if you commit a patient to your facility and are not accredited, they will not pay out for the services your provided.
How long does it take to get results from organic search?
The results are usually take several months (less than half a year), but when visible, are phenomenal.
Do rehab centers need a license?
Rehab centers are comparable to private practices of medicine, so you are required to be licensed to operate a business in the addiction field. Contact your local authorities for procedures you have to take. You must also follow zoning laws.
What to consider when starting a rehab center?
Another factor to consider when starting your rehab center business is the location where the rehab will be located in. even though it isn’t compulsory that your rehab center be residential; however most of the successful rehab centers are those where patients can stay for a predetermined time and then leave.
Why do you have to start a rehab center?
Before starting a rehab center business, you have to be sure that it is a business you are ready for, because apart from making profit like any other business, the primary cause of the business aims at achieving a noble cause of ensuring people become free of their addictions whatever they may be.
What is a business plan for rehab?
A business plan is the document that will show any financial institution how serious you intend taking your rehab center business.
What are the specializations of rehab?
Regarding the areas of specializations in the rehab business industry, some of the specializations are; alcohol and drug addiction. internet addiction. sex addiction.
How many employees do you need to run a rehab center?
This would be about 10 to 20 employees.
What are the challenges of rehab?
Some of the threats and challenges you are likely to face in your rehab center business include a drop in funding from the federal government which might be due to a downturn in the economy; more strict regulations from operating state, or more competitors in the same niche.
Why is financing important for rehab?
Financing your rehab center business is very important because no business or business idea can thrive without finances, no matter how noble or fantastic the business is. Finance helps the business not only become a reality but also to thrive and grow.
Step 1: What Kind of Addiction Treatment Facility Do You Want to Open?
There are a few different types of rehab centers out there. The first is a full-continuum rehab facility. In these treatment centers, patients can do everything from detox, live, attend outpatient programs, and patient hospitalization programs (PHPs). An Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) facility is different.
Step 2: Getting Your Drug Rehab Center Licensed
Regardless of the type of rehab center you want to open, you must receive a license.
Step 3: Hiring and Training Your Staff
Once you’ve applied and been approved for your business licenses, you’ll need to hire and train employees.
Step 4: Applying for Insurance Accreditation
Insurance accreditations mean your facility can accept insurance payments from patients. If you plan to run a rehab center for out-of-pocket patients only, you can skip this step. But if you plan to serve low-income or elderly populations, this is a must.
Open a Drug Rehab Facility Today!
As long as you follow these 4 steps, you’ll be on your way to opening the drug rehab center you’ve always wanted to. And the people in your area will thank you.
How much does it cost to open an addiction treatment center?
An intensive outpatient program can range from $300-$600k, a residential treatment center can be a few million, and a sober living home can range from $200-700k.
Why are accreditations important?
Some insurance companies require these accreditations in order to pay out for treatment. It also shows a commitment of the treatment center at a certain standard and quality.
What is MAT marketing?
Medication assisted treatment (MAT) Don’t forget to budget for marketing. A quality program will not be successful if no one knows about it. Marketing is sometimes considered an after-thought, but it is important to start the process early. Finding a marketing company that understands your business plan is crucial.
Is Ascension Recovery Services a profitable business?
The need for quality addiction treatment continues to rise and starting your own treatment center can be a great way to have a profitable business that makes a difference. However, if you have decided to open your own treatment program, there are many factors to consider.
How Much Does It Cost?
Feasibility Study
- First step is a feasibility study. This will help you determine exactly what is needed in your local area (or the area in which you wish to open a center). In this phase you will need to determine the type of rehab center you want to open. By type, we are referring to the level of your treatment center will provide. For example, will it be a full continuum of care center? Which we highly sugg…
Licensing
- As opening a rehab center is like opening a private practice in medicine, you need to be a licensedto conduct business in the addiction field. This is done through the local authorities. This involves zoning as well. If you are looking to open a residential recovery center the home or living location of your residence could require commercial medical zoning. Each state is different, like …
Business Plan
- Like any business, you need to create a professional addiction center business plan and pro-forma. The business plan puts your thoughts to paper and creates what the business will become. This is required by all banks and most serious investors. To learn more about how we can help with your business plan writing, click here
Staff and Training
- The recovery industry is not much different than most. Your staff will create an amazing experience for your patients. You need to hire the following staff to open a center: 1. Executive Staff 1.1. Medical Director 1.2. Executive Director 2. Intake Staff (handling inbound leads for treatment) 3. Medical Staff 4. Clerical Staff 5. Janitorial Workers...
Accreditations CARF and Joint Commission
- Accreditation from CARF or The Joint Commission (JCAHO)is highly valuable these days. More and more insurance companies are requiring one of these two accreditations in-order to enter treatment which means if you allow a patient to enter your facility and are not accredited, they will not pay out for the services your provided.
Marketing Execution
- As we said before, marketing is where most people fall flat in the recovery business. They don’t provide enough budget to cover what is needed and end up running out of money or have empty beds when they open. Marketing for addiction rehab centers is a two-pronged approach. The first prong being long term investment in Organic Search and your brand. Organic search (SEO) is Go…