19A - Idea Napkin No. 2

1)      You. 

·         As I mentioned before, my name is Vanessa and I am completing my B.S in Business. I am extremely passionate, a great leader, and an excellent manager. I am not the type of person to fall back from a challenge, in fact, I am always looking for ways to challenge myself and learn how to do things on my own. My aspirations are to provide accessible mental health services to patients of all ages. As we know, mental health services are becoming nearly impossible to access for both insured and uninsured patients, and I want to facilitate the process for my patients and ensure they have continuity of care.

2)      What are you offering to customers? 

·          I am offering physicians and hospitals a reliable mental health institution where they can easily refer their patients for mental health services. Also, I am offering mental health services to patients of all ages and all socioeconomic backgrounds. What I learned previously was that primary care providers and hospitals are having a difficult time referring patients to mental health institutions for managed care. There are always either extremely long waiting lists or services are too expensive for patients to afford; even with insurance. As for my patients, they will have the option of seeing a psychologist, psychiatrist, or rehabilitation physician that will help them with their needs. They will be seen in a timely manner, and will have sliding scale options for treatment, if uninsured.

3)      Who are you offering it to? 

·         My services will be offered to patients of all ages and socioeconomic statuses. This means that my services will not be limited to only high-income with patients with insurance, but also low/middle-income patients without insurance; race, age, gender-identity, ethnic/religious backgrounds will not impede access to service. All of my patients need mental health services, and they need somewhere they can seek services without worry. As for providers and hospitals, all of them have the need for mental health services in common.

4)      Why do they care? 

·         My services are valuable because there exists a great need for mental health services. Also, by offering pediatric and rehabilitation services, all patients can receive treatment without having to see different specialists. This allows for continuity of care and maintenance without interference from other providers that may not be as efficient. Lastly, all patients want is to be seen and treated. If they can do this easily, they’ll be on the road to recovery a lot faster.

5)      What are your core competencies? 

·          What sets me apart from all other mental health facilities is that I will be offering both psychiatric and drug rehabilitation services. The most common issue we see these days, are mental health patients that begin to use street drugs when they are unable to get proper treatment. As a result, they add addiction to their mental health issues which in turn can lead to devastating effects for patients. In addition, my facility will offer services to pediatric patients. I believe this is important when managing care for families. Lastly, my facility will accept most major insurances and offer sliding scale options for uninsured patients; a lot of patients can’t afford visits or medications even with insurance and this will alleviate those issues.

Moreover, all of these elements work well together because it solves a major problem for providers, hospitals, and most importantly, patients. No one should have to wait for mental health services, especially when it can mean life or death or the risk of being placed in jail due to lack of treatment.

Based on the feedback I received, I realized that my services are very much necessary. In addition, I realized how important it is to have trained professionals to properly assess the needs of patients. Haley mentioned that by providing rehabilitation services in my institution, it would greatly benefit the patients because she believes the go hand in hand. For example, some patients that can’t afford treatment seek illegal drugs and usually take substances that worsen their symptoms. By incorporating both services, I can increase the recovery rate for patients.