Controversial Conference Call Proves WAATME Addiction Treatment Provider Accreditation is Right on Track!

It is not often that we at WAATME (World Accreditation Addiction Treatment Mark of Excellence ©) getting the opportunity to engage in dialogue with another established accreditor. So, you can imagine our excitement at the scheduling of just such a conference call recently. It wasn't far into this long-awaited call, however, that excitement turned to frustration, bewilderment then outright disappointment.

Taking our cues from Sir Richard Branson's BlahAirlines.com (a tongue in cheek reference to run-of-the-mill airlines), we will refer to the accreditor in question as Blah Accreditor and invite you to view the website at: www.BlahAccreditor.com.

The conference call with Blah Accreditor began charmingly enough. All the usual pleasantries were exchanged and introductions made. But then, Blah Accreditor representative proceeded to describe the type of services they offer and how much more experienced they were than WAATME. "When we began we were a group of people that wanted to make a difference." Said the Blah representative. "We accredit accreditors, and we have been in business for decades, and we do it online." With a distinct change in tone "so you see, you are not so original!"

Whoa cowboy, we could, of course, relate to their apparent desire to make a difference, so we politely informed our curious colleague with as much old West politeness as possible "This is exactly how WAATME began our grassroots accreditation and, like you, we have been accrediting now for several years."

Imagine our surprise when the response from the other end of the conference call was an almost scripted, "well, I am very confused as to what you do!"

It is worth noting that Blah Accreditor had several months in which to review WAATME and come to the conference better informed. Not to mention that a cursory glance at our website would have provided sufficient priming. Despite our bewilderment, however, we proceeded to educate Blah Accreditor by letting them know that "We accredit only those addiction treatment providers that are NOT funded, owned or influenced by pharmaceutical corporations." – information which, we might point out, is available on our website.

Clearly discontented, the Blah Accreditor representative continued: "well, I am still very confused as to what you do."

We realized that this other accreditor clearly had done no research on us whatsoever, so a more detailed description of our service was needed. Calmly, our representative explained that: "we accredit treatment centers/centres, medical detox centers/centres, pain-management centers/centres, sober living homes, addiction treatment providers, psychiatrists, medical doctors, nurse practitioners, therapists, nurses, addiction related non-profits, addiction counselors, sober companions, recovery coaches, sober coaches, home care professionals, any or all other addiction treatment providers that fall into this category, nationally and internationally, as long as they are NOT funded, owned or influenced by Big Pharma."

The WAATME representative went on to point out that our organization "is a limited scope accreditation, complementary accreditation, attainable, and online just like you; we accredit groups and independents if you will. It is a simple, streamlined and online process, but not everyone is eligible."

In addition to rendering our accreditation, WAATME also offers attainable certification for treatment centers/centres, and/or medical detox centers/centres, or complex on-site treatment center/centre licensing through a government agency, and a highly credentialed professional team of specialists (this is for those organizations that have no governing bodies in their state or country, but choose to getting formally licensed anyway). It should be noted here that there is a difference between accreditation, certification and licensing. Regarding certification in the United States many businesses with six beds or under are not required by law to have an accreditation, certification or license. Certain provinces in Canada have no governing bodies, some cities, states or countries do not require a medical professional to be on-site 24/7 in a medical detox center/centre with six beds and under, and there are many more extenuating circumstances.

WAATME also renders mock surverys for a higher accreditation with other agencies to include policies and procedures.

As an addiction treatment provider specific organization WAATME also delivers affordable, government approved treatment center/centre licensing documentation online (developed by doctoral credentialed professionals). These experts are not only superbly qualified, but they are highly experienced, having licensed or accredited some of the world’s most renowned treatment centers/centres, and more.

Are you a treatment center/centre, or other needing customized or do-it-yourself documentation to getting formally licensed by your government agency, and you are in need of one or all of the following:

• Formal Government Licensing Documentation
• Feasibility Reports
• Policies and Procedures

Getting your WAATME no- red-tape treatment center/centre licensing documentation now! It has never been so easy & cost-effective!

The conversation continued with Blah Accreditor asking "aren't you afraid that pharmaceutical corporations will come after you?" A question which, on the surface, seemed straightforward enough, but caused the alarm bells to start ringing: Was Blah Accreditor owned, funded, or otherwise influenced by Big Pharma? If so, their special interests would hamper their ability to provide truly impartial judgment. If, indeed that was what they wanted to do.

With cautionary approach, the WAATME representative asked: "why should WAATME be afraid of Big Pharma?" Without waiting for the Blah Accreditor to answer our representative proceeded to point out the finer points of our completely impartial accreditation service. "WAATME is roping in an invisible line online with the WAATME accreditation seal," and continues, "parents, family, and friends should know which addiction treatment organizations are not lassoed in any way by Big Pharma, so folks can make more informed choices. If they want to choose an organization that is funded, owned or influenced by Big Pharma they can choose to do so, but it is important to have a choice."

It is expected business practice that for-profit and non-profit accreditation organizations are publicly traded companies, and/or non-profit's to accept donations from a variety of sources including pharmaceutical corporations. WAATME does not fall into these categories. Also, WAATME is not an advocate against Big Pharma across the board. Many patients survive on medications to fight serious diseases, and/or to live a better quality of life. There is nothing like Western medicine. We are accrediting addiction treatment providers only. There was an accreditation need in the addiction treatment arena that WAATME identified. Moreover, WAATME provides many business benefits, improvement performance verticals, policies and procedures reviews, education, etc. Other Blah Accreditors enforce a large payout of gold yearly from the addiction treatment programs or facilities they have accredited based on their revenue, as if you were their business pardner', not WAATME! Oh and yes, WAATME is the only accreditor in the industry to accept the new form of gold: Bitcoin! Here's to even more forward-thinking confusion.

Blah Accreditor: "Well, all you have is a questionnaire online!"

WAATME Accreditor in a good way thinks....hmm....we need to re-evaluate the website as this is how we may be perceived. More than likely Blah Accreditor read about one of our treatment centres that was formally investigated last year in the news. It was of great value that this treatment centre was and still is accredited by WAATME as they have re-structured, healed, and moved forward. WAATME was dragged through the mud, and we will come back stronger than ever against any bully! How do you like us so far?

WAATME Accreditor: "Our accreditation course was developed by three Ph.D. wielding experts and one Psy.D. Combined; this team has over 100 years of academic, research, and therapeutic experience so theoretically it took a century to develop. We take accreditation and addiction treatment very seriously, the reason WAATME is taking a stand, and we believe patients, and families should have a choice in knowing which addiction treatment providers are not funded, owned or influenced by pharmaceutical corporations."

This rather apt quote from one of our experts Dr. Nicki Pike Psy.D - Master Therapist, Diplomate & Board Fellow sums it up quite well:

"Clients and the professionals will know with WAATME accreditation criteria if the treatment center they are choosing is independent of Big Pharma and why would a client choose an addiction healthcare provider that is not willing to be accredited by a third-party? Another important question when exploring options is to understand the corporations behind a facility and how they benefit. It is the easiest accreditation to acquire if they are eligible."

Blah Accreditor: "Well, How many organizations have you accredited?"

WAATME Accreditor: "That is proprietary information at this time, but we began just like you. How many have you accredited?" Blah Accreditor : "Oh, ok. Approximately just over 50. Well, I am still confused as to what you do. What are your standards?"

We are confused as to how an accreditor can be so easily confused and/or how can Blah Accreditor be in the business of accrediting accreditors in the midst of such confusion? Are you as confused as we are by this confusing conference call? On the conference call was one of our PhDs (actually wields two PhDs) is an accreditation specialist having accredited 72 organizations to include the following: 56 The Joint Commission accreditations, 10 CHAPS accreditations, 6 AASM accreditations --galloping well past Blah Accreditor.

Back to the conference call with Blah Accreditor who insisted that they "still did not understand" what we do. With practiced patience, our WAATME representative continued to try and break it down as plainly as possible for our caller. "Are you understanding the deadly worldwide prescription drug epidemic, especially in the US & Canada?" Asked our representative. "Doctors are being arrested for over-prescribing, unaccredited, uncertified, unlicensed treatment centers or sober living homes are passing out medications (in many cases) with newly sober hires that can be easily influenced, pain-management centers/centres may be heavily influenced by prescription drug companies, Big Pharma may have seduced a medical doctor at a medical detox center/centre by paying him thousands of dollars to introduce their new medications, in some cities, states or countries medical detox centers/centres are not required to have a licensed medical professional on-site 24/7 such as a CNA, LVN, LPN, RN or MD, uncertified or unlicensed sober companions manage medications, home health aides may not have any training whatsoever with regards to prescription drugs, older adults, and the dangers of not properly managing meds, the list goes on."

You could hear the tumble weeds rolling in as Blah Accreditor appeared silenced by this information. The WAATME representative pressed on. "There are over 50,000 people that are abusing, overdosing and dying on prescription medications every year, and that number is growing exponentially. If all we do is save one life due to our accreditation, then we have done our accreditation job. With WAATME accreditation addiction treatment providers will become educated and informed, it is streamlined and attainable, yet not everyone can getting accredited by WAATME."

Finally, Blah Accreditor responds with, "No, I was not aware of the prescription drug epidemic." That was an unexpected response, considering we were having a conversation with the Chief Executive Officer of the Blah Accreditor organization.

"This is a major issue in the recovery industry, since most facilities immediately medicate everyone upon admission, in essence simply trading an addiction that doesn’t benefit the pharmaceutical industry for one that does." Dr. Rusty Barrier, Ph.D.

It is rather perplexing how such an experienced accreditor can offer accreditation services while being completely oblivious to the big issues. Blah Accreditor has been in business for decades, has multiple distinguished experts on their Board of Directors, Honorary Board of Directors, and have accreditation surveyors worldwide. When it comes to one of the biggest issues facing the planet, the prescription drug epidemic, they remain ignorant?

Blah Accreditor concluded the conversation by saying "We will not getting you accredited, but I will send you our standards – I have your email." We finally received standards as if one were being licensed by the arduous process of a government agency (they are not a government agency), and generally meant for a hospital setting. They need to pay for their brick and mortar overhead, pay their staff, and make a profit which is why they drag out the process for so long, and their fees are probably outrageous. A separate standards online specifically for a treatment center/centre consisted of one page with several blocks of text. But even more confusing, is the fact that they made a decision about accreditation without any formal process of review of documentation. Furthermore, how is it that an accreditor, that is completely unaware of the pervasive stronghold prescription drug companies have on every medical board, their vast special interest influence globally be qualified to accredit an accreditor that has much higher standards, in our humble opinion, than they do?

In the end, Blah Accreditor would not qualify for WAATME Accreditation at all. We strive only to accredit honest, professional, and ethical organizations. Our guess is that as a non-profit they receive funding from Big Pharma. This controversial conference call also proved that the WAATME addiction treatment provider accreditation is right on track!

Are you an addiction treatment provider with an AARP or CARF membership? If so, you are eligible to receive a 25% dues discount when you getting accredited by WAATME or pay with Bitcoin. Getting your World Accreditation Addiction Treatment Mark of Excellence © seal today, and more!

If any use of the WAATME mark is used without expressed permission on any website or other published or printed material there is a $1M fine, plus attorney's fees. The WAATME seal is embedded, guarded and tracked to deter pirating --Digimarc-enabled.

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