As healthcare shifts toward greater accountability for quality, outcomes, and value, provider-payer collaboration is becoming a defining factor in how organizations improve access, demonstrate clinical value, and achieve long-term sustainability. Join RECADEMY for a real-world case study featuring Caron Treatment Centers and explore how one leading organization transformed traditional payer relationships into strategic partnerships that support both patient care and organizational success.
Speakers
Lee Peterson
Executive Director of Revenue Cycle and Payer Relations, Caron Treatment Centers
Biography
Lee brings more than 20 years of experience in the healthcare financial sector, primarily developing strategies to generate revenue and using analytics to navigate critical decision-making processes. Most recently, Lee worked with a consulting company doing similar work to boost financial performance for clients. He also worked for five years for an addiction treatment center to develop strategic collaborations with insurance companies while revamping systems and strategies to increase access to care.
For the past three years, Lee has chaired the Chisago County Opioid Settlement Council, leading the council’s efforts to advise the Board of Commissioners on how best to utilize settlement funds to benefit the county’s citizens in the battle against opioid addiction.
Lee has a Master of Business Administration from Metropolitan State University, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, and four Bachelor of Science degrees in psychology, sociology, operations management, and statistics from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul. He is a certified healthcare financial professional; specialist, business intelligence; revenue cycle representative; and specialist, managed care.
Lee Peterson
Executive Director of Revenue Cycle and Payer Relations,
Caron Treatment Centers
Stuart Buttlaire
Vice President Of Clinical Excellence & Leadership
info@openminds.com
717-334-1329
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Expertise
Strategic planning for mental health and substance use delivery systems
Integrated behavioral health system design
Behavioral health financing and policy reform and state and federal legislative and regulatory strategy
Measurement-based care and clinical performance management
Behavioral health policy authorship and thought leadership
Highlights
Regional Director of Behavioral Health and Addiction Medicine, Kaiser Permanente
Board President, Institute for Behavioral Health Improvement
Board Member, NAMI California
Advisor on Medicaid and Medicare behavioral health programs
Biography
Stuart Buttlaire brings over 35 years of executive, clinical, and policy experience to OPEN MINDS. Dr. Buttlaire has experience in both the public and private sectors of healthcare providing leadership and direction in healthcare delivery. His career has focused on advancing integrated behavioral health and addiction medicine through strategic innovation, system redesign, quality improvement, and sustainable policy reform.
Previously, Dr. Buttlaire was the Regional Director of Behavioral Health and Addiction Medicine for Kaiser Permanente. In this role, Dr. oversaw a $200 million portfolio serving 4.6 million members across 23 emergency departments and 33 medical centers. He led development and operations across inpatient, ambulatory, emergency, call center, and contracted community services, supporting more than 2,500 mental health and substance use disorder providers. His leadership resulted in significant system transformation grounded in person-centered, measurement-based, and integrated care models. Dr. Buttlaire was also the lead Mental Health Representative for State Program Initiatives, including Medicaid (Medi-Cal) and Medicare. He pioneered the design and implementation of two psychiatric inpatient units, including a nationally recognized medical/psychiatric unit for individuals with complex co-morbidities. Additional innovations include integrated urgent services for youth and adults, intensive outpatient programs, multi-family group treatments for severe psychiatric conditions, and a mobile app for eating disorders that earned Kaiser’s Innovation Award.
Dr. Buttlaire is a widely respected advisor on behavioral health policy, legislation, and regulatory strategy. He has worked closely with state and federal agencies on issues of parity enforcement, financing reform, Medicaid redesign, and systems integration. He currently serves as Board President of the Institute for Behavioral Health Improvement, is a Board Member of NAMI California, and sits on the California Hospital Association Behavioral Health Advisory Board. He previously chaired the Behavioral Health Section of the American Hospital Association and was appointed to the AHA Regional Policy Board for the Western U.S.
As a frequent speaker and author, Dr. Buttlaire has published articles and research papers on behavioral health integration, suicide prevention, financing, and policy reform. His work continues to shape strategic direction for public and private behavioral health systems across the country.
Dr. Buttlaire holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies, an MBA with a concentration in Health Care Management and Finance from UC Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business, a Master’s in Counseling Psychology from Humboldt State, and a B.A. in Psychology and Political Science from the University of Colorado.
What You’ll Learn:
- Why provider-payer collaboration has become a strategic priority in SUD care
- How Caron Treatment Centers aligned coverage, quality, outcomes, and financial sustainability
- Strategies for strengthening trust, transparency, and shared accountability with payers
- Actionable lessons to help organizations prepare for the future of value-based care