A nationally recognized physician at the helm, and a lean team to build around her.
Dr. Andrea Barthwell, one of the country's most respected addiction-medicine physicians, anchors the venture as Chief Medical Officer. Around her we hire a small, focused team across clinical care, operations, technology, and data; the roles below name those functions, and hiring follows funding and the deployment timeline.
Dr. Andrea Barthwell — Chief Medical Officer
The hardest part of building a treatment provider is not the software or the vehicles — it is having a respected addiction physician who can sign the medical protocols, satisfy federal surveyors, open doors with state authorities and payers, and stand behind clinical quality. Two Dreams already has that physician: Dr. Barthwell is the founder and medical leader, and the reason partners can trust the clinical side from day one.
Who she is
A board-certified addiction physician and one of the field's most respected clinicians nationally, Dr. Barthwell founded Two Dreams, the licensed Illinois substance-use treatment provider this venture is built on.
- Former Deputy Director of ONDCP, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy — standing in federal drug policy and national-level relationships.
- Past president of ASAM, the American Society of Addiction Medicine, the field's leading professional body and author of the ASAM Criteria.
- Founder and medical leader of Two Dreams, a licensed, operating Illinois provider — a real clinical business, not a concept.
Why she anchors the venture
Her standing makes every regulated step toward revenue faster:
- Named Medical Director on the opioid treatment program application; surveyors weigh medical leadership heavily, speeding federal certification and accreditation.
- Relationships with Illinois state authorities and settlement-fund administrators that can shorten the licensing timeline.
- A strong credentialing reputation with payers, smoothing Medicaid and Medicare enrollment and managed-care contracting.
- In-house training authority: as an ASAM past president, she can deliver and credential the required ASAM Criteria training for new clinical staff.
A new entrant usually spends about a year standing up a licensed provider and earning clinical credibility. We start with both: a licensed Illinois provider and a former ONDCP Deputy Director and ASAM past president as CMO — a head start measured in years, not months.
The team to build
The plan is deliberately lean. In Year 1 we stand up in-clinic and telehealth buprenorphine and behavioral-health services under Two Dreams' existing license, then build the licensed opioid treatment program and mobile component in parallel. The roles below span clinical care, operations, technology, and data; salaries match the role budget in the financial model.
Clinical roles
| Role | Purpose | Key requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Prescribers (MD / DO / NP / PA) | Write and manage buprenorphine for OUD (OBOT now); methadone within the certified OTP later. The revenue front door. | Current DEA registration with Schedule III authority; no X-waiver needed post-MAT Act; new/renewing registrants complete the 8-hour MATE training attestation. |
| Registered Nurses / LPNs | Dispensing, dosing, observed administration, vitals, and induction monitoring, especially on the mobile unit. | Licensure; comfort with controlled-substance handling and mobile-clinic workflow. |
| Licensed SUD counselors (LPC / LCPC / CADC, LCSW) | The counseling required for the OTP bundle, plus individual/group therapy and IOP in the behavioral-health stack — the LTV engine. | State licensure; complete SUPR ASAM Criteria training within 6 months of hire (Barthwell can deliver internally). |
| Certified Peer Recovery Specialists (CRSS) | Engagement and retention; separately Medicaid-billable in Illinois, so they add revenue and improve outcomes. | Illinois CRSS certification; lived-experience peer support. |
| Consulting Pharmacist | Methadone inventory, diversion controls, and the mobile-unit safe regime (Schedule II). | Pharmacist licensure; controlled-substance / OTP experience (engaged as needed for the OTP track). |
Operations roles
| Role | Purpose | Key requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Program / Operations Director | Run day-to-day clinic and mobile operations, intake, routing, scheduling, and the OTP standup — a primary internal owner so the company is more than “access to a person.” | SUD/health-operations leadership; familiarity with SUPR licensing and OTP/accreditation processes. |
| Billing & Credentialing lead | The recurring-revenue engine: IMPACT (Medicaid) enrollment, MCO contracting/credentialing, Medicare OTP enrollment (CMS-855B), and clean claims across OBOT, BH, and OTP codes. | Medicaid/Medicare behavioral-health billing experience; managed-care credentialing. |
| Intake / Pharmacy & inventory control | Patient intake plus Schedule II diversion controls and inventory; mobile-unit safe / GPS / alarm and return-nightly compliance. | Controlled-substance handling; DEA NTP operating requirements awareness. |
| Office Coordinator (~$55K) | Run the front office — scheduling, intake paperwork, patient communication, records, and coordination — so clinicians can focus on care. | Healthcare front-office experience; organized and patient-friendly; comfortable with electronic health records. |
| Mobile unit driver / coordinator | Operate the van on its route, manage the dispensing window and on-site logistics, and provide mobile-unit security. | Appropriate vehicle licensing; security awareness for controlled-substance transport. |
Technology & data roles
| Role | Purpose | Key requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Chief Technology Officer (~$200K) | Own the network technology backbone: EHR and telehealth platforms, billing and clearinghouse integrations, security and privacy, and the analytics that drive county targeting. A network-level role whose cost is shared as we add sites. | Senior healthcare technology leadership; security and privacy rigor; experience building reliable, compliant clinical data systems. |
| Data / Analytics lead | Own the county-targeting index, underlying data, and outcomes record; build a clean, de-identified data architecture and publish the validation behind the targeting. | Health data engineering; comfort with public datasets (WONDER/SUDORS, ARCOS, TEDS, SVI/PLACES); rigor on de-identification and provenance. |
Every key account gets a second owner early, so no deal runs only through Dr. Barthwell. This deliberate discipline turns one person's network into a lasting company asset that holds up even on a day she is not in the room.
Clinical quality and governance
Clinical quality is the foundation of the business, so we govern it directly. Dr. Barthwell chairs a standing clinical board that sets protocols, reviews outcomes, and holds the team to the ASAM Criteria she helped define — the same care that earns the trust of patients, surveyors, and payers alike.
Evidence-based protocols
Treatment follows the ASAM Criteria and established MOUD standards, set and reviewed by the clinical board, with consistent quality across clinic and mobile unit.
We measure what works
We track retention, engagement, and outcomes openly and use them to improve care. A clear record builds credibility with payers, regulators, and funders over time.
Population-level, transparent
Our county-targeting work decides where to bring treatment, not which patient gets care. The methodology is documented and open for partners to inspect.
A board chaired by Dr. Barthwell
A standing clinical-governance board, chaired by the CMO, with room for outside clinicians, a public-health voice, and patient-advocacy members so authority does not rest on one person.
Advisors & partners to recruit
Beyond the core team, an advisory and partnership layer adds depth, broadens the network beyond one person, and opens doors with counties, payers, and the state.
Clinical advisors
Additional addiction clinicians, including a second clinical name alongside the CMO, so credibility is shared rather than resting on one person.
State / public-health official
A current or former state health officer on the board for public-health perspective and standing.
Payer medical director
A Medicaid managed-care medical director who translates clinical value into contractable, billable outcomes.
Patient-advocacy representatives
Recovery-community voices on the board to keep the patient perspective central to care and targeting decisions.
Data, privacy & regulatory counsel
Advisors fluent in 42 CFR Part 2 and health-data de-identification to keep the data work legally clean and documented.
County & procurement partners
County, municipal, and government-health contracting relationships that open faster, cleaner routes to public funding and deployment.
The team, board, and advisory layer share one goal: turn Dr. Barthwell's authority and network into lasting company value. A standing clinical board, a clear outcomes record, working billing and credentialing, and a strong data asset together make the business durable on its own — even on a day she is not in the room. See Risks & Mitigations for how this addresses key-person risk.