2026 Conference Schedule - Detailed
Monday, April 27th, 2026
8:30-9:45a Registration/Check In
9:45-10:00a Welcome
Welcome Sponsored by:
10:00-11:00a
Vision in Action: Building the Future of Behavioral Healthcare
Vision in Action: Building the Future of Behavioral Healthcare, will inspire and empower attendees to turn their strategic visions into tangible realities within Partial Hospitalization Programs (PHP) and Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOP). By addressing challenges and showcasing actionable strategies, the session will provide a roadmap for innovation and sustainability in behavioral healthcare. Attendees will leave with renewed clarity, tools for collaboration, and a commitment to advancing their programs.
Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV
Natasha Mosby, LCSW, is the Clinical Program Director of the Nevada Pediatric Mental Health Access Program with the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health. Previously, she was a lecturer and the Integrated Healthcare Program Coordinator at UNLV’s School of Social Work for nine years. In her current role, Natasha leads initiatives to integrate mental health care into pediatric medical practices statewide through innovative healthcare models.
With over 20 years of experience in mental health, she is a recognized clinical expert at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). Her specialties include anxiety, trauma, stress-related disorders, depression, and children’s mental health with a focus on integrated healthcare, bridging physical and mental healthcare delivery.
Natasha holds a Master of Social Work from Louisiana State University and a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, along with an Associate’s degree in Criminal Justice, from Southern University and A&M College. Currently, she is a Ph.D. candidate in Health Psychology, expecting to defend her dissertation in summer 2025.
She is the owner and founder of Health, Wellness & Integrated Care, a boutique private practice in Las Vegas, where she provides therapy, clinical consultation services, and clinical supervision. Natasha is also a sought-after consultant, offering mental health training and clinical consultation across Southern and Northern Nevada.
In 2022, Natasha planned and organized the first free Men’s Mental Health and Wellness Conference in Las Vegas, focusing on men’s health disparities. This annual event led to a Proclamation from the City of Las Vegas, proclaiming June as Men’s Health Month. That same year, she began her second appointed four-year term as a Commissioner on the Nevada Commission on Behavioral Health Board. Additionally, Natasha serves as an Advisory Board Member for the West Las Vegas Promise Neighborhood Maternal-Child Community Advisory Board. In 2023, she received another appointed position as the Clinical Consultant for Special Olympics Nevada, where she developed and oversees the K-12 Mindset Matters Mental Health Program, which helps students in Clark and Washoe County School Districts manage stress and mental health challenges.
In recognition of her significant contributions to the City of Las Vegas, Natasha received the Women of Impact Award in 2024. Driven by a lifelong commitment to improving healthcare service delivery and expanding access to care for underserved communities. Through her leadership, clinical expertise, and dedication to integrated care, Natasha continues to champion innovative solutions that bridge gaps in physical and mental health services, fostering healthier communities and equitable access for all.
Session Sponsored by:
11:00-11:15a BREAK
11:15a-12:15p
Development of PHP/IOP Specialty Programs
This session highlights the process by which a real-world example of the steps necessary for setting up a PHP/IOP programs. The presentation includes everything from identifying your population, integrating your clinical model and methods, establishing your clinical model in your electronic health record, and developing a working staffing model. We will review a process for selecting your best clinical outcome tools.
Brianne Baker MA, LMFT
El Camino Hospital
Brianne Baker, also known to her colleagues as Bri, is a Licensed Marriage and Family therapist. She has been working in her community for 25 years. She received her undergraduate degree at Claremont McKenna College and her graduate degree at the University of San Francisco. She has specialties in the area of acute care, trauma informed cared and has a long history of working with both youth and adult populations. Currently, she oversees the adult outpatient services at El Camino Hospital. These services include the Maternal Outpatient Mood Services (MOMS program), Addictions services, Adult Mood Program (AMP) services, Older Adult Services (OATS), a thought disorders program (Continuing Care Program) and the DBT IOP track and Pride track program. Bri also has experience doing trainings with specialties in Motivational Interviewing and Trauma Informed Care.
Nicole Tarui, MD, MPH
El Camino Hospital
Nicole Tarui, MD, MPH graduated from David Geffen School Medicine at UCLA and completed psychiatry residency at University of California, San Francisco. During her training, Dr. Tarui served as chief resident at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and completed additional training in the Women's Mental Health Area of Distinction. She developed a strong interest in both reproductive psychiatry and infant mental health during her training in the Infant Parent Program at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. Currently, she serves as the medical director of the MOMS program and has particular interest in peripartum/postpartum mood disorders and infant parent psychotherapy.
12:15-1:30 LUNCH
1:30-2:30p
Building & Retaining Your Behavioral Healthcare Staff
Attendees will become aware of factors driving the challenges many treatment centers face in hiring and retaining key staff. They will also become aware of factors that motivate employees to stay at their current organization, move on to other opportunities and why they choose one opportunity over others.
Jordan Young, BBA
Jordan and Associates Consulting, LLC.
In 2010, Jordan’s personal recovery and desire to help others pushed him away from corporate B2B sales and towards behavioral healthcare. He began his career in an admissions role, where he worked with over 4,000 patients to coordinate treatment with hundreds of treatment centers around the country. In 2013, he was promoted to oversee the same organization’s events department. He designed the themes, content creation, education and drove sales for 17 national conferences. In 2018, his aspirations to make a more significant impact on behavioral healthcare led to the creation of Jordan and Associates Consulting, whose purpose is to leverage the experience, education, and thousands of connections made in the industry to help treatment centers overcome obstacles blocking their path to success. Jordan's 14+ years of experience and thousands of relationships in behavioral healthcare have formed the foundation for the focus of his business, which is helping treatment centers hire key staff. He has worked with over 40 different behavioral healthcare organizations to identify, interview, and hire key staff in Executive, Business Development, Admissions, Marketing and positions.
Joe Landry
Freeman Recovery Center
A seasoned professional in the addiction recovery field, I currently serve as the Director of Operations at Freeman Recovery Center. With over a decade of experience, I have devoted my career to helping individuals and families navigate their recovery journeys while fostering strong leadership and cohesive team dynamics. Passionate about building teams founded on trust, transparency, and open communication, I recognize the critical role that employee engagement and staff development play in creating a thriving workplace and delivering exceptional care. I firmly believe that organizational growth begins with leadership growth—when the leader gets better, everyone gets better. By investing in personal development and cultivating a culture of continuous improvement, we create an environment where both our teams and the individuals we serve can thrive.
2:30-2:45p BREAK
Sponsored by:
2:45-4:00p
From Vision to Action: Implementing Zero Suicide
The Zero Suicide framework offers health care systems a systematic approach to quality improvement to caring for those at risk for suicide that addresses these gaps in care. Zero Suicide implementation requires transformative change that cannot be borne solely by the practitioners providing clinical care. Zero Suicide requires a system-wide approach to improve outcomes and close gaps. This presentation will better equip participants to implement the Zero Suicide in their organizations by highlighting tools, interventions, and best practices that can be used to reduce or close patient care gaps.
Barbara Gay, MA
Zero Suicide Institute at EDC
As the Associate Director of Zero Suicide Institute at EDC, Barb leads the development and dissemination of products that advance whole system transformation for suicide prevention. Nationwide, she guides leaders of health care and behavioral health care systems in assessing suicide prevention efforts and implementing the Zero Suicide framework. She also provides consultation in selecting capacity-building opportunities, including Zero Suicide Institute’s Assessing and Managing Suicide Risk trainings.
Previously, Barb was the executive director of Foundation2 and Area Substance Abuse Council. She has served as an advisory committee member for the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention.
Barb is a suicide attempt survivor, and she holds an MA in Health Education from the University of Northern Iowa and a BA in Psychology and Sociology from St. Ambrose University
4:15-6:00p AABH Welcome Reception
Tuesday, April 28th, 2026
9:00-9:15a Coffee Break
9:15-9:30a Welcome
9:30-11:00a
We Need a Clinical Curriculum: Now What?
Structured clinical protocols are increasingly being considered for treatment delivery at the intensive outpatient program (IOP) and partial hospital program (PHP) levels of care. Clinic leaders understand that there are advantages to providing a standard treatment protocol but commonly are confused as to how to develop and implement one both clinically and operationally. This presentation will focus on key clinical components of protocol development, associated staff training, and clinical outcome measurement. In addition, discussion will include potential operational challenges related to access, staffing and compliance-related issues.
Brad Riemann, Ph.D.
Guidelight Health
Dr. Brad Riemann, Ph.D. is the VP of Quality and Clinical Development for Guidelight Health. Guidelight provides IOP/ PHP services to adolescents and adults across the country. Riemann also serves as a senior consultant working with a variety of behavioral health companies and academic institutions to develop evidence-based treatment programming, measurement-based care systems, and standardized training protocols. He is the former Chief Clinical Officer and System Chief Operating Officer at Rogers Behavioral Health. During his career he has developed 100's of behavioral health programs at all levels of care and authored over 120 scientific, peer-reviewed articles and 15 treatment manuals. Dr. Riemann has also been an invited speaker at numerous national and international conferences.
11:00-11:15a BREAK
Sponsored by:
11:15a-12:15p
Achieving and Maintaining Compliance in Behavioral Health
Poor documentation practices can lead to regulatory and billing issues that could compromise a program.
Stephanie Weatherly, DNP, PMH RN-BC
Psychiatric Medical Care
Stephanie Weatherly is the Chief Clinical Officer at Psychiatric Medical Care (PMC), a nationwide behavioral health provider. She has devoted her life to providing patient-centered care and teaching others how to care for those living with mental illness. She routinely speaks to large audiences about clinical outcomes, compliance, and improving access to behavioral healthcare. Stephanie holds a doctorate in nursing from Walden University, a master’s degree in nursing leadership from Western Governors University, and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of South Carolina. She is a board-certified psychiatric nurse leader with experience in improving access to care, reducing the use of restraint and seclusion, and providing evidence-based care models. Stephanie has been with PMC since 2015. She was previously the administrative director at Parthenon Pavilion Mental Health Hospital in Nashville, the chief quality officer at Mary Black Hospital in South Carolina and held numerous leadership positions across multiple healthcare organizations. After years of directing clinical care in individual care settings, she gained oversight of multiple healthcare facilities. Her passion for individualized care has been instrumental in moving numerous organizations to a more patient-centered approach.
Sponsored by:
12:15-1:45 AABH AWARDS LUNCHEON
Sponsored by:
1:45-2:45p
Evaluating Technology Solutions For Behavioral Health Providers
Explain and help behavioral health companies understand how to evaluate technology solutions.
Arpan Parikh MD, MBA, FAPA
SOL Mental Health
Arpan is a double-board-certified physician specializing in general psychiatry and addiction medicine. He has spent his career caring and building for patients with psychiatric and substance use disorders across a variety of settings, including inpatient, outpatient, emergency rooms, dedicated SUD treatment programs, full risk-bearing primary care payviders, pureplay digital D2C mental health platforms, and multisite outpatient platforms.
He is the Chief Medical Officer of SOL Mental Health, a growth-stage multisite outpatient mental health group that delivers care across 6 states. He previously co-led the build and launch of Ro's direct-to-consumer mild-to-moderate depression and anxiety treatment platform, and prior was the National Head of Behavioral Health at Caremore. Arpan continues to see patients in his private practice, advises several digital mental health start-ups and healthcare-focused investors, and teaches residents and fellows at both the Keck School of Medicine at USC (where he is on faculty) and at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Sponsored by:
2:45-3:00p BREAK
Sponsored by:
3:00-4:30p
How does PHP/IOP fit into payer services with expectation for clinical review and oversight
The panel will each present how partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient programs fit into the broader grid of services in behavioral health managed care plans s/he represents. Each panelist will present the key elements of a successful clinical admission and outcome for a patient who is presented for admission into a partial hospitalization or intensive outpatient program in the behavioral health spectrum of services. Each panelist will be asked to provide a brief overview of the process by which a claim for clincial services is reviewed and the steps necessary for a provider to appeal a decision made by their plan.
Panel of Managed Care Representatives
Janice Hinkledire, LCSW (Magellan Health)
Janice Hinkledire joined Magellan in 2001 and currently serves as a Senior Provider Partnership Manager. With over 10 years of direct clinical experience and 16 years in managed care, Janice has built a career centered on problem-solving and fostering collaboration.
Beginning her professional journey as a child and family therapist, Janice spent 10 years helping families navigate challenging life situations. She used cognitive behavioral therapy techniques to transform "I can’t" into "I can," approaching each problem as an opportunity for growth.
Since transitioning to managed care in 2009, Janice has continued to bring her solution-oriented mindset to her work, focusing on cultivating strong, collaborative relationships between providers and payors. She is deeply committed to ensuring that every stakeholder—whether a member, provider, or state entity—feels respected and empowered to achieve improvement, even in the face of significant obstacles.
Janice’s approach is defined by her ability to think outside the box and implement innovative solutions that contribute to improved efficiency, outcomes, and client satisfaction. Janice is committed to continuous learning and professional growth. Her positive outlook is seen in her ability build strong, lasting partnerships with clients, providers, and internal teams.
Ali Kahn, MD MPP (Aetna CVS Health)
Ali Khan, MD, MPP, FACP works at the intersection of medicine, entrepreneurship, translational health policy, population health and public service to help transform American health care delivery and achieve the quadruple aim. He is an experienced leader of mission-driven teams through periods of growth, uncertainty and high-stakes challenges.
A board-certified internist, Ali completed his residency at Yale-New Haven Hospital, where he serves on the clinical faculty. He is a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School and VCU’s Medical College of Virginia, earning joint MD and MPP degrees as a Harvard Public Service Fellow. As part of Virginia Commonwealth University’s joint BS/MD program, Ali graduated magna cum laude with University Honors in print journalism.
Beyond the clinic, Ali maintains an active public leadership portfolio, including recent service as Chair of ACP’s National Council of Resident/Fellow Members, on Physicians for Human Rights' National Board of Directors and as chair of its National Student Advisory Board. As a member of the 2008 and 2012 National Health Policy Advisory Committees for Obama for America, Ali led, managed and trained physicians from around the country in political organizing, health policy education, messaging strategy and media cultivation. He previously managed field operations as National Deputy Field Director of Doctors for America.
A former strategy consultant for the IHI, Ali provides strategic consulting and leadership coaching across the private, public and non-governmental sectors. He is a frequent invited speaker on domestic health policy and advocacy, change management, primary care innovation, health workforce issues, leadership development and health and human rights challenges nationally. Beyond medicine, Ali’s community work includes ground-level service as a alumnus member – and past National President – of Sigma Beta Rho Fraternity, Inc., a national historically South Asian service and social organization.
Charlie Sposato, MBA (Guidelight Health)
Recently named the Head of Payer strategy for Guidelight Health, Charlie Sposato brings over a decade of experience in behavioral health. Charlie’s career spans strategic and operational roles for various stakeholders including state government, behavioral health providers and large national payers including Carelon and Optum. Most recently, he was Vice President of Managed Care at BrightView Health, an outpatient SUD treatment provider based in Cincinnati, OH.
Wednesday, April 29th, 2026
9:00-9:45a Coffee Clutch
9:45-10:00a Welcome
10:00-11:00a
Survey Readiness for PHP/IOP Programs
This presentation will focus on survey readiness in the outpatient setting. It will include: how to incorporate survey readiness into your daily routine, how to engage leaders and staff during survey activity, and how to create successful and sustainable plans of correction for survey findings.
Jemma-Joy Coster, RN, MSN, PMH NP-BC
Signature Healthcare LLC
Jemma-Joy Coster, NP-BC is the corporate Regional Director of Risk and Accreditation for Signature Healthcare, LLC. She provides support to 19 free standing psychiatric hospitals related to quality and regulatory readiness. Her area of expertise is in preparing facilities with programs across multiple levels of care, for federal, state, and accreditation body surveys. Jemma is a board-certified Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner who has successfully opened various psychiatric programs, including the first free standing psychiatric hospital in Orange County, CA.
11:00-11:15a BREAK
Sponsored by:
11:15a-12:15p
Legislative Outlook Shaping Behavioral Health for 2025 and Beyond
This session will present insight into the legislative landscape on the National Level that impacts and may guide clinical programming in Behavioral Health over the course of the next 4 years. The presentaton will review the core areas of behavioral health that are included in ongoing legislation and in the realm of discussions with legislators. Finally, an overview will be presented of the impact legislation can have on developing and maintaining PHP and IOP as part of a continuum of care with focus on staffing, service levels and provider obligations.
Shawn Coughlin, MPM
National Association for Behavioral Healthcare
Shawn Coughlin is the president and CEO at NABH. In this role, he serves as the association’s principal lobbyist, oversees the association’s advocacy work on Capitol Hill, and helps to set and implement strategic policy goals that support high-quality evidence based behavioral healthcare for Americans who live with mental and substance use disorders. Mr. Coughlin brings more than 30 years of advocacy experience to his role. Prior to joining NABH, Mr. Coughlin served as advocacy consultant to the association on behavioral health policy during his almost 16 years with Capitol Health Group as principal and chief operating officer. He is a leading healthcare advocate and policy expert who works with diverse external stakeholder organizations, including patient and provider groups, regulators, public and private payors, and trade associations. He has extensive experience in Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance policy, as well as a broad experience with many sectors of the healthcare industry. Mr. Coughlin began his health policy career working on Capitol Hill, handling various healthcare policy needs for members of the House Ways and Means Committee. He was a professional staff member on the prestigious House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, served as senior health policy advisor for a senior member of the Committee, and a legislative assistant. Mr. Coughlin earned a bachelor’s degree from Lafayette College in Easton, Pa. and a master’s degree in public management from the University of Maryland
Sponsored by:
12:15-12:30p Conference Closing Remarks
12:30p CONFERENCE ENDS
POST-CONFERENCE ADDITIONAL TRAINING EVENT
2:00-5:00p
AABH CORE Training
The CORE III-IV Training is an intensive comprehensive overview of the documentation requirements for operating a PHP and/or IOP. The training will focus on the requirements established by CMS-Medicare and The Joint Commission, as most other payers also follow these requirements that are directly related to the patient experience in a PHP and/or IOP.
The training has been modified to include all the new requirements that were implemented in 2024 by CMS for Medicare that include the new definition for an Intensive Outpatient Program and the requirements for that new level of care in their manuals.
CORE III-IV training will highlight documentation process and needed elements from admission to daily clinical services to discharge. The slight differences for PHP, IOP and the intensified outpatient services will be covered. Technical requirements that are covered in detail in CORE I-II will be reviewed so the documentation requirements are put into context.
Larry Meikel, MBA
Larry Meikel, MBA has been providing support services for PHP and IOP to clients for over 20 years. He has been an active member of the AABH board since 2004. He has served as the Board President three times during his tenure. Larry has served as the AABH Treasurer since 2004.
Larry is the primary trainer for the CORE Training Series that focuses on the technical requirements for PHP/IOP. He has leveraged his experience as a consultant and payer liaison to develop specific training components that outline the requirements being set by payers and accreditation bodies.
Larry also serves as the AABH liaison to CMS and is actively involved each year in the review of PHP/IOP rules and reimbursements. He most recently was instrumental in making sure CMS remembered to focus on PHP/IOP adjustments for services and regulations during the pandemic. He is the primary author of the recent CMS Billing Guide available to members of AABH.
Larry actively provides members with consultation and education through one-on-ones and through conference presentations and webinars. He always makes time to be sure members get information needed related to CMS regulations.
President, Classic Behavioral Healthcare
AABH CMS Liaison/Board Member/Treasurer
Allison Kidder, MBA LCSW-BACS
Co-CEO, Compass Health
Allison Kidder currently serves as Co-CEO of Compass Health, a Louisiana-based behavioral health system. Comprised of free-standing inpatient and outpatient behavioral health programs as well as partnerships with local hospital systems, Compass Health serves over 500 patients each day and employes over 700 personnel at its various locations.
A licensed clinical social worker, Allison began her career with Compass Health as a therapist in a hospital outpatient department, providing PHP and IOP services. Before long, she was promoted to a PHP/IOP program director position; over the next 7 years, Allison worked in operations serving as an outpatient program director, regional manager, and hospital CEO. Having served on Compass’s EHR implementation team in 2014, in 2017, she moved into the role of Director of Information Systems, where she helped to finalize implementation and optimize Compass’s EHR and leverage other information systems to gain business efficiencies.
Allison has worked in healthcare for 20 years, with 16 years of experience in behavioral health and 13 years in leadership. Passionate about getting things right, Allison uses her experience in operations oversight, regulatory compliance, utilization review, performance improvement, and policy & procedure development to streamline both clinical and administrative processes.
Allison served on the AABH Board of Directors from 2014 to 2017.
Sponsored by:
POST-CONFERENCE ADDITIONAL TRAINING EVENT
8:30a-2:30p
AABH CORE Training (Continued)
The CORE III-IV Training is an intensive comprehensive overview of the documentation requirements for operating a PHP and/or IOP. The training will focus on the requirements established by CMS-Medicare and The Joint Commission, as most other payers also follow these requirements that are directly related to the patient experience in a PHP and/or IOP.
The training has been modified to include all the new requirements that were implemented in 2024 by CMS for Medicare that include the new definition for an Intensive Outpatient Program and the requirements for that new level of care in their manuals.
CORE III-IV training will highlight documentation process and needed elements from admission to daily clinical services to discharge. The slight differences for PHP, IOP and the intensified outpatient services will be covered. Technical requirements that are covered in detail in CORE I-II will be reviewed so the documentation requirements are put into context.
Larry Meikel, MBA
President, Classic Behavioral Healthcare
AABH CMS Liaison/Board Member/Treasurer
Larry Meikel, MBA has been providing support services for PHP and IOP to clients for over 20 years. He has been an active member of the AABH board since 2004. He has served as the Board President three times during his tenure. Larry has served as the AABH Treasurer since 2004.
Larry is the primary trainer for the CORE Training Series that focuses on the technical requirements for PHP/IOP. He has leveraged his experience as a consultant and payer liaison to develop specific training components that outline the requirements being set by payers and accreditation bodies.
Larry also serves as the AABH liaison to CMS and is actively involved each year in the review of PHP/IOP rules and reimbursements. He most recently was instrumental in making sure CMS remembered to focus on PHP/IOP adjustments for services and regulations during the pandemic. He is the primary author of the recent CMS Billing Guide available to members of AABH.
Larry actively provides members with consultation and education through one-on-ones and through conference presentations and webinars. He always makes time to be sure members get information needed related to CMS regulations.
Allison Kidder, MBA LCSW-BACS
Co-CEO, Compass Health
Allison Kidder currently serves as Co-CEO of Compass Health, a Louisiana-based behavioral health system. Comprised of free-standing inpatient and outpatient behavioral health programs as well as partnerships with local hospital systems, Compass Health serves over 500 patients each day and employes over 700 personnel at its various locations.
A licensed clinical social worker, Allison began her career with Compass Health as a therapist in a hospital outpatient department, providing PHP and IOP services. Before long, she was promoted to a PHP/IOP program director position; over the next 7 years, Allison worked in operations serving as an outpatient program director, regional manager, and hospital CEO. Having served on Compass’s EHR implementation team in 2014, in 2017, she moved into the role of Director of Information Systems, where she helped to finalize implementation and optimize Compass’s EHR and leverage other information systems to gain business efficiencies.
Allison has worked in healthcare for 20 years, with 16 years of experience in behavioral health and 13 years in leadership. Passionate about getting things right, Allison uses her experience in operations oversight, regulatory compliance, utilization review, performance improvement, and policy & procedure development to streamline both clinical and administrative processes.
Allison served on the AABH Board of Directors from 2014 to 2017.