Leaders: Collaborative Consultant

Susan C. Sargent, CMC, MBA

President, Sargent Healthcare Management Advisors, LLC

Ms. Sargent has provided strategic planning, marketing, operations, and management assistance to behavioral healthcare providers nationally for over 25 years with a focus on bringing best practice medicine to best practice design. As such, she has worked with both civil and forensic health facilities, contributing currency and fluency in the treatment, management, and operational issues facing providers.

Before founding Sargent Healthcare Management Advisors, Ms. Sargent was the Vice President of Advisory Services for Array Healthcare Facilities Solutions. In this role, she:

• Actively participated in the growth of health services within this all-healthcare architecture/design firm.
• Managed multiple master planning projects across large health care systems, contributing to the organization, management, and successful outcomes from both the client and the firm perspectives.
• Conducted demand assessment and space programming for multiple engagements.

Since 1977, Ms. Sargent has collaborated with Roger Kathol, MD in the development and feasibility assessment of complex intervention units (CIUs) and value-added medical and mental health services. CIUs are licensed medical units gauged for treating patients admitted to acute care facilities with significant medical and/or mental conditions. The design for simultaneously treating both the medical and mental health issues results in better care, shorter lengths of stay, and significant savings for the hospitals. More recent work involves assistance to patient-centered medical homes and accountable care organizations as they attempt to incorporate mental health care into the primary medical patient experience.

Prior firms owned and/or operated by Ms. Sargent include:

• Sargent & Associates, Inc.
• Chi Systems, Inc.
• Managed Care Strategies, Inc.
• GLS Associates, Inc.

Representative Client List

• Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA
• Belmont Center for Comprehensive Treatment, Philadelphia, PA
• Bon Secours Health System, Marriottsville, MD
• Capital Health System, Fuld Campus, Trenton, NJ
• Criminal Justice Institute, Middletown, CT
• Del E. Webb Memorial Hospital, Sun City West, AZ
• Delaware Psychiatric Center, Replacement Psychiatric Hospital, Wilmington, DE
• Lancaster General Hospital, Psychiatric Program Evaluation, Lancaster, PA
• North Philadelphia Health System, Philadelphia, PA
• Queen’s Medical Center, Honolulu, HI
• San Joaquin County General Hospital, Stockton, CA
• Sisters of Charity Medical Center, Staten Island, NY
• State of Illinois, Office of Mental Health, Springfield, IL
• Stockley Medical Center, Developmentally Disabled Nursing Center, Georgetown, DE
• Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA
• Universal Health Services, Various Psychiatric Renewal Projects, CT & DE
• University Hospitals of Cleveland, Psychiatric Center, Cleveland, OH
• University of Chicago Hospitals & Health System, Chicago, IL
• University of Virginia Medical Center, Psychiatric Program Evaluation, Charlottesville, VA

Publications

• "Financing Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Care Within Physical Health:  A Look to the Future," Psychiatric Clinics of North America, Elsevier Saunders, Volume 31, Number 1, March 2008, 11-25.
• "Why Integrated Services Finally Financially Make Sense," Primary Psychiatry, MBL Communications, Volume 6, Number 7, July 1999, 91-101.
• "Planning for the Future:  Ten National Industry Trends for Behavioral Health," Russ Coile's Health Trends, November 1996.
• "Dialogue: Ethical Hazards of Capitation Contracting," Healthcare Tomorrow, July/August 1994.
• "Contracting and Managed Care Payment Options," Managed Mental Health Care, American Psychiatric Press, 1992.
• "Managed Care Payment Options: Design v. Default," NAATP Review, 10 (2) (1989): 9-10.
• "Case Study: Behavioral Health Services," Healthcare Strategic Planning: Approaches for the 21st Century; Zuckerman, Alan; Health Administration Press; Chicago, Illinois; 1998.
• "Behavioral Health as a Medical Savings Vehicle: Another Crazy Idea?," Wharton Graduate Business School Health Care Alumni Association Conference, Philadelphia, October 1998.
• "Business Development Through At-Risk Contracting," Behavioral Healthcare Delivery System Integration for Regional Health Systems, Academic Medical Centers and Community-Based Organizations, Institute for Behavioral Healthcare, January 1998.
• "The New Jersey Experience with Diagnosis-Related Groups," Prospective Payment and Psychiatric Care, ed. Donald J. Scherl, M.D., et al, American Psychiatric Association, 1988.
• "Marketing Psychiatric Services," Psychiatric Annals, 14 (1984): 375-384.

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Cartesian Solutions, Inc.™
3004 Foxpoint Rd. - Burnsville, MN 55337
Phone: 952-426-1626 - Fax: 952-426-1200
E-mail: integration@cartesiansolutions.com