2026 Behavioral Health Management Summit

Sponsors & Exhibitors

Days

Hours

Minutes

Seconds

overview

Behavioral health has emerged from the shadows to become a strategic priority for healthcare organizations nationwide, driven by rising demand, evolving reimbursement models and growing recognition that mental health directly impacts overall health outcomes. As healthcare systems face challenges in delivering accessible, effective behavioral health services, leaders need practical strategies for building programs that generate sustainable results while meeting community needs.

Business Research Intelligence Network presents the Behavioral Health Management Summit, bringing together healthcare executives, clinical and operational leaders to explore proven approaches for developing successful behavioral health programs. The program will feature real-world case studies, innovative service delivery models and technology solutions that are transforming how healthcare organizations approach mental health and substance use treatment while achieving measurable business success.

Attendees will discover actionable insights into integrating behavioral health with medical services, leveraging technology to expand access and measuring success through comprehensive performance metrics. Industry leaders will share strategies for overcoming implementation challenges, building effective care teams and creating sustainable revenue streams through behavioral health services that enhance both patient outcomes and organizational performance.

Agenda

Day One – Thursday, March 19, 2026

7:15am – 8:00am
Registration & Networking Breakfast

8:00am – 8:15am
Welcome & Opening Remarks

8:15am – 9:00am
Creating Clinical Teams That Thrive
This presentation discusses focused strategies for building and supporting teams for high quality outcomes during times of increased demand for behavioral health care.

Participants will learn: innovative approaches to building talent pipelines, strategies to onboard and prepare teammates to provide exceptional care and how to build sustainable processes that increase teammate engagement.

Eva McNeill, MBA
Associate Vice President, Outpatient Services
Behavioral Health Service Line
Atrium Health

Donnie Mitchem, MS, LPA
Director, Outpatient Therapy
Behavioral Health Service Line
Atrium Health

9:00am – 9:45am
Expanding Access: Innovative Systems of Care for Substance Use Treatment
This session explores groundbreaking approaches to improving access and continuity of care for individuals with substance use disorders. We will review innovations in inpatient admissions through a centralized admissions unit designed to provide immediate, person-centered access to multiple levels of care using a triage model. Additionally, we will introduce a transformative program launching in 2026: a partnership with The Restoration Center. This initiative offers a critical alternative for law enforcement and emergency responders by diverting individuals in acute behavioral health crises away from lock-up facilities and emergency departments. The Restoration Center integrates Massachusetts’ first sobering center with comprehensive behavioral health supports, rapid access to withdrawal management, stabilization services, and medication for addiction treatment—creating a seamless entry point into the recovery continuum.

Lisa Blanchard, MA, LMHC
Chief Clinical Officer
Spectrum Health Systems

Mark Orris, MS
Executive Director of Inpatient Services
Spectrum Health Systems

9:45am – 10:15am
Networking & Refreshments Break

10:15am – 11:00am
The Importance of Mental Health Awareness in Self Direction: Mental Health First Aid for Participants, Caregivers, and Community
This session explores the vital role Mental Health Awareness and Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) plays in self-directed services. Participants will learn how MHFA empowers individuals, caregivers, and family members to recognize early signs of mental health challenges, respond appropriately, and support wellbeing in a person-centered way. The presentation highlights how mental health awareness strengthens independence, builds confidence, reduces stigma, and promotes safer, more supportive self-directed environments. Attendees will leave with practical knowledge Self Directed Services, strategies to foster resilience, improve communication, and enhance quality of life for everyone involved in self-direction.

Margarita Chavez-Sanchez, MS, MHA
Regional Director - Southwest
Consumer Direct Care Network

11:00am – 11:45am
Beyond Coverage: How Health Plans Are Driving the Next Generation of Care Models
Health plans are moving beyond traditional coverage roles to actively shape the future of healthcare delivery. By leveraging advanced data analytics, strategic provider partnerships, and value-based care frameworks, plans are designing innovative care models that improve clinical outcomes, enhance patient experience, and expand access across diverse populations. This presentation explores emerging strategies—such as integrated care networks, population health management, and technology-enabled care—and examines their implications for patients, providers, employers, and policymakers navigating a rapidly evolving healthcare landscape.

Debbie Witchey, MHA
President & CEO
Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness

11:45am – 12:30pm
Building Your Behavioral Health Workforce: Recruitment, Retention and Creative Staffing Solutions
The behavioral health workforce shortage is real, but innovative health systems are finding creative ways to build effective care teams that deliver quality services while managing costs. This session examines successful strategies for recruiting behavioral health professionals, developing career pathways that improve retention and leveraging peer support specialists and other non-traditional providers to expand capacity. Learn about training programs, compensation models and workplace culture initiatives that help organizations build stable behavioral health teams.

Agnes M. Amistoso, MS, MA
Regional Director Strategy & Program Operations
Regional Mental Health Administration
Kaiser Permanente

12:30pm – 1:30pm
Networking Lunch

1:30pm – 2:15pm
Community Partnerships: Expanding Behavioral Health Impact Through System Collaboration
Cross‑system collaboration between behavioral health providers, law enforcement, homeless response partners, and other systems creates safer and more effective pathways to care. We will highlight models that reduce crisis‑driven encounters, reduce criminal justice system involvement, and successfully intervene with those who are chronically homeless. Learn how integrated approaches strengthen community outcomes while reducing strain on emergency and justice systems. Through real‑world examples and practical strategies, this session demonstrates how partnerships can drive meaningful, sustainable change for people with behavioral health needs that also deliver cost-effective outcomes that strengthen community systems.

Wayne Young, MBA, LPC, FACHE
Chief Executive Officer
The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD

2:15pm – 3:15pm
Panel: Scaling Behavioral Health Across Health Systems - Lessons from Leaders Who've Done It
Building behavioral health services is challenging enough at one facility, but scaling these programs across multiple hospitals and clinics requires sophisticated strategy and execution. This session brings together health system executives who have successfully expanded behavioral health services across their networks to share insights on standardization, quality control and financial management. Panelists will discuss practical approaches to maintaining consistency while adapting to local market needs, managing capital investments and measuring success across diverse service lines and geographic locations.

Margarita Chavez-Sanchez, MS, MHA
Regional Director - Southwest
Consumer Direct Care Network

Lisa Blanchard, MA, LMHC
Chief Clinical Officer
Spectrum Health Systems

Jeremy Mercer
Chief Executive Officer
Ascension Saint Thomas Behavioral Health Hospital

3:15pm – 3:45pm
Networking & Refreshments Break

3:45pm – 4:30pm

Patient Experience in Behavioral Health: Reducing Stigma and Building Trust
Mental health patients face unique challenges that require specialized approaches to engagement, communication and care coordination throughout their treatment journey. This session examines strategies for creating welcoming environments, training staff to address mental health stigma and developing patient engagement programs that improve satisfaction and treatment adherence. Learn practical techniques for improving the patient experience in behavioral health settings while building the trust and therapeutic relationships essential for successful treatment outcomes.

Brandi Ghergia, PMHNP-BC
Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practioner
Novus Behavioral Health

Kandace Arlaud, PMHNP-BC
Nurse Practitioner
Meharry Medical College

4:30pm – 5:15pm
Navigating the Behavioral Health Ecosystem: Health Systems, Managed Care, and Market Forces
This session focuses on how provider–managed care alignment becomes a core strategy for building a successful behavioral health organization. Leveraging experience on both the payer and provider sides, it will highlight what managed care is really looking for, how to translate that into program design and documentation, and how to reduce friction in day‑to‑day operations. Attendees will walk away with a clearer roadmap for strengthening partnerships, stabilizing revenue, and growing services responsibly.

Jeremy Mercer
Chief Executive Officer
Ascension Saint Thomas Behavioral Health Hospital

5:15pm
End of Day One

Day Two – Friday, March 20, 2026

7:15am – 8:00am
Networking Breakfast

8:00am – 8:15am
Day Two Welcome & Announcements

8:15am – 9:00am
Telehealth and Remote Behavioral Health: Expanding Access While Controlling Costs
The rapid adoption of telehealth during the pandemic proved that remote behavioral health services can be both effective and profitable when implemented correctly. This session explores best practices for developing telehealth programs that expand access to underserved populations while generating sustainable revenue streams. Learn about technology platforms, regulatory compliance requirements and clinical protocols that successful organizations are using to deliver high-quality remote behavioral health services while managing costs and ensuring patient safety.

Deandra Christianson, MA LCPC
Division President, Mental Health and Eating Disorders
Discovery Behavioral Health

Amy Costa, PsyD, LMFT
VP of Clinical Operations, Mental Health and Eating Disorders Divisions
Discovery Behavioral Health

9:00am – 9:45am
Integrated Care That Works: Breaking Down the Walls Between Physical and Mental Health
The most successful behavioral health programs don't operate in isolation - they're woven into primary care, emergency services and specialty medical practices where patients actually receive care. This session examines proven integration models that improve patient outcomes while generating sustainable revenue through better coordination and reduced medical costs. Learn practical strategies for embedding behavioral health providers in medical settings, training primary care teams to address mental health needs and creating workflows that support seamless care transitions.

Nicole Blair, LCSW
Manager
Behavioral Health Integration
Atrium Health

9:45am – 10:15am
Networking & Refreshments Break

10:15am – 11:00am
Universal Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment: Best Practices for Providers Working in Behavioral Health and Integrated Healthcare Settings
This presentation will discuss the importance of using universal screening in a variety of care settings due to the prevalence of co-occurring behavioral health and medical issues among patients. We will review validated assessment tools for a variety of behavioral health issues and how to create a tiered triage method for intervention based on acuity. We will review how to assess when brief intervention is appropriate and when to refer to specialized treatment. Participants will learn some brief intervention methods including psychoeducation and brief solution-focused therapy modalities, as well as how to connect patients to longer term treatment and other resources where appropriate.

Dr. Lindsey Campos, DBH, LPCC, CEAP, SAP
Clinical Employee Assistance Program Director
The Solutions Group (a division of Presbyterian Healthcare Services)

11:00am – 11:45am
Scaling with Purpose: Aligning People, Processes, Systems, and Capital to Choose the Right Growth Path
Scaling a behavioral healthcare organization requires deliberate choices about how—and where—to grow. Drawing on firsthand leadership experience, this session examines how to align people, processes, systems, and capital to support expansion through mergers and acquisitions, de novo development, or a hybrid approach. The discussion highlights real-world tradeoffs, lessons learned, and practical decision frameworks that help leaders pursue growth while protecting culture, clinical quality, and long-term enterprise value.

Kirk Manz
Chief Executive Officer
Athena Care

11:45am – 12:30pm
Pediatric and Adolescent Behavioral Health: Meeting Growing Demand in Underserved Markets
Youth mental health has reached crisis levels, creating urgent demand for specialized services that many health systems are struggling to provide effectively. This clinical session explores innovative approaches to pediatric and adolescent behavioral health that address unique developmental needs while building sustainable service lines. Learn about family-centered care models, school-based programs and crisis intervention strategies specifically designed for young patients that successful organizations are using to meet growing community demand while achieving positive financial results.

Dr. Angela Glymph- Austin, PhD
Health and Educational Equity Leader and Researcher; Non-Profit Chief Executive Officer
Peer Health Exchange

12:30pm
Conference Concludes

Workshop - Friday, March 20, 2026

12:45pm - 2:45pm
Estimating the ROI of Behavioral Health Programs: From Conceptual Models to Real-World Evidence
This workshop provides leaders with a practical, analytically grounded framework for evaluating the financial and clinical impact of behavioral health programs,from early-stage ROI modeling to rigorous effectiveness measurement. Participants will explore how theoretical ROI calculators work, what assumptions drive their results, and how to avoid common analytic pitfalls when projecting cost offsets, utilization changes, or productivity gains. The session then moves into real-world evidence generation, guiding participants through the design of matched case/control studies that isolate program impact within complex care environments. Using sample datasets and BH program scenarios, participants will practice defining comparison groups, selecting appropriate matching variables, and interpreting differences in outcomes such as admissions, crisis events, retention, chronic condition management, and total cost of care.

Throughout the workshop, the facilitator will highlight methodological tradeoffs: internal validity vs. feasibility, proxy measures vs. hard outcomes, short-term vs. long-term horizons, and help participants assess which evaluation approach best fits their organization’s maturity, data assets, and strategic goals. Interactive exercises will include building a simple ROI calculator, stress-testing key assumptions, critiquing study designs, and identifying sources of bias that can distort program value estimates. By the end, participants will be able to translate BH program impacts into credible financial metrics, communicate uncertainty transparently to stakeholders, and choose evaluation methods that balance rigor, practicality, and decision-making needs.

Learning Objectives:
• Compare the strengths, limitations, and appropriate use cases of theoretical ROI models vs. empirical effectiveness studies
• Build and critique a simple ROI calculator by selecting assumptions, defining value drivers, and identifying high-leverage sensitivities
• Design matched case/control studies that isolate program effects while minimizing bias and confounding
• Interpret differences in utilization, cost, and clinical outcomes to generate credible ROI estimates for BH programs
• Communicate results, including uncertainty, caveats, and decision implications, to executive, clinical, and payer stakeholders

Austin Barrington
FSA, MAAA (Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, Member of the American Academy of Actuaries)
Principal & Consulting Actuary

Who Should Attend?

From Health Plans/Hospitals/Health Systems/Mental Health Facilities/Community Health Centers/Recovery Centers/Employers/Managed Care Organizations/Law Enforcement: