Behavioral Health IT Powerhouses Team Up To Provide Breakthrough Internet Platform for Providers

    ISLIP, N.Y., March 28 /PRNewswire/ -- CMHC Systems, Inc. (CMHC),
 Netsmart Technologies, (Nasdaq:   NTST), through its wholly-owned subsidiary,
 Creative Socio-Medics, Inc. (CSM), and Intellipsych, LLC announce the
 formation of a joint venture company called LifeOptions Network, LLC aimed at
 providing a suite of Internet Services to Behavioral Health Providers.  The
 initial offering from LifeOptions Network is a compelling re-brandable
 consumer healthcare portal, called CenterSite(TM) (http://www.centersite.net)
 that will initially allow the CMHC and CSM customer base the ability to
 deliver comprehensive consumer behavioral health information via the web.
     CMHC and CSM are two of the largest and most respected providers of IT
 products and services to the human services industry whose combined customer
 base employs more than 100,000 behavioral health practitioners.  Intellipsych
 brings to LifeOptions Network the LifeNet platform a secure universal
 payer/universal provider connectivity solution, content from Lifescape.com,
 and a wealth of Internet technology expertise specifically focused on the
 needs of behavioral health providers.
     The joint venture will begin by selling within the combined customer base
 of its three constituent companies, but plans to quickly branch out to cover
 the entire industry through developing partnerships with provider
 associations, payers, and the public sector.
     CenterSite(TM) is based on the combined resources of two outstanding
 established websites, Mental Health Net and Lifescape.com.  For the past
 5 years, CMHC Systems, Inc. has sponsored and operated the award-winning
 Mental Health Net website (http://www.mentalhelp.net).  Mental Health Net
 currently receives 500,000 visits and delivers more than 1.5 million pages of
 information every month.  Lifescape.com (http://www.lifescape.com) is
 recognized as one of the premier sources of clinically vetted behavioral
 health information on the Web. The combination that CenterSite(TM) represents
 is unparalleled in the industry in depth, breadth, and quality.
     "LifeOptions signals a different way of doing business, as we work to make
 Web technology and its benefits accessible to our broader customer base,"
 notes John Paton, President of CMHC Systems. "The combined knowledge of the
 behavioral health industry and resources of this joint endeavor is unique,
 something no one of us alone could bring to this effort, and clearly
 represents a commitment to succeed. We are especially pleased to be a part of
 this endeavor, which enables us to offer new services and value to these
 customers, based on the experience and good will we have gained in sponsoring
 Mental Health Net for the past five years."
     Jerry Koop, CEO of Creative Socio-Medics (CSM) stated, "The CenterSite
 platform completes the final link for the web portal business model. The site
 is supported by the combined strength of the largest suppliers of IT services
 in the behavioral health market, CSM and CMHC, and the leading connectivity
 platform in LifeNet.  By pooling these resources, CenterSite becomes the ideal
 vehicle to distribute customized web sites and scalable practice management
 solutions to each partner's respective client base. A new age solution has
 been added to an established and successful business model."
     John L. Koontz of Intellipsych offered, "What differentiates LifeOptions
 from all of its processors is that we're enhancing all facets of a provider's
 professional relationships, with content facing the consumer and through
 LifeNet transactions facing the payer.  We facilitate better clinical care via
 high quality information and interactive features, while not losing site of
 the importance of the business side with prompt eligibility, authorization and
 claims functionality."
     Paul Duck of Intellipsych added, "Given the spate of recent withdrawals
 from the provider IT field, and the rash of dot-com failures, we're soon going
 to be one of the few viable options in this space.  LifeOptions, given the
 background and competence of its founding partners, is positioned on firm
 ground both technologically and fiscally for the long term."
     Mike McDonald, formerly the CFO of CMHC Systems, and responsible for the
 Mental Health Net website, has been named COO of the new venture.  "We are
 very excited about this partnership and our first service offering.
 CenterSite gives providers a unique opportunity to reach out to their
 communities in a way that has not been possible before.  Forward-thinking
 behavioral healthcare centers recognize they need an online presence to better
 fulfill their care-giving and educational missions, and to enhance their
 standing within the communities they serve.  We provide them a complete
 website with thousands of pages of information and thousands of useful links
 to other sites.  Most importantly, our editors constantly update the content
 with the latest news and information giving consumers a reason to visit the
 site again and again.  Centers can add pages of information specific to their
 center, including staff, programs, locations, hours, and more.  All of this
 material is presented as the center's web site under the center's name and
 logo. We already have several agencies signed up for the service and we expect
 it to ramp up rapidly."
 
     About CMHC Systems, Inc.
     CMHC Systems (http://www.cmhc.com) has been a recognized leader in the
 development and delivery of information technology to the healthcare and human
 services industries for more than 22 years. Integrating clinical, financial,
 demographic, and staff data, the CMHC/MIS permits total management of
 information and works with all major network architectures. CMHC has helped
 provide information management solutions to more than 500 organizations with
 650 sites in 41 states.
 
     About Netsmart
     Netsmart (http://www.netsmartech.com), through its wholly-owned subsidiary
 Creative Socio-Medics (CSM), has been a leading supplier of enterprise-wide
 software solutions for human services providers for the past 30 years. CSM
 (http://www.csmcorp.com), with over 500 behavioral healthcare clients
 nationwide, including 15 state agencies, provides enterprise-wide solutions
 for behavioral healthcare providers. Avatar Practice Management and the Avatar
 Clinician WorkStation, CSM's core products, are full-featured information
 systems that operate on a variety of operating systems, hardware platforms,
 and have unlimited scalability. The Company's new SmartMed smart card will be
 applied to the e-commerce requirements of the human services Internet
 applications.
 
     About Intellipsych
     Intellipsych is a payer-backed venture that focuses on the behavioral
 health care provider community. The mission of Intellipsych is to provide a
 "universal payor/universal provider" connectivity solution in LifeNet, that
 improves the efficiency and effectiveness of the delivery and management of
 behavioral health care services.
 
 

SOURCE  Netsmart Technologies

    ISLIP, N.Y., March 28 /PRNewswire/ -- CMHC Systems, Inc. (CMHC),
 Netsmart Technologies, (Nasdaq:   NTST), through its wholly-owned subsidiary,
 Creative Socio-Medics, Inc. (CSM), and Intellipsych, LLC announce the
 formation of a joint venture company called LifeOptions Network, LLC aimed at
 providing a suite of Internet Services to Behavioral Health Providers.  The
 initial offering from LifeOptions Network is a compelling re-brandable
 consumer healthcare portal, called CenterSite(TM) (http://www.centersite.net)
 that will initially allow the CMHC and CSM customer base the ability to
 deliver comprehensive consumer behavioral health information via the web.
     CMHC and CSM are two of the largest and most respected providers of IT
 products and services to the human services industry whose combined customer
 base employs more than 100,000 behavioral health practitioners.  Intellipsych
 brings to LifeOptions Network the LifeNet platform a secure universal
 payer/universal provider connectivity solution, content from Lifescape.com,
 and a wealth of Internet technology expertise specifically focused on the
 needs of behavioral health providers.
     The joint venture will begin by selling within the combined customer base
 of its three constituent companies, but plans to quickly branch out to cover
 the entire industry through developing partnerships with provider
 associations, payers, and the public sector.
     CenterSite(TM) is based on the combined resources of two outstanding
 established websites, Mental Health Net and Lifescape.com.  For the past
 5 years, CMHC Systems, Inc. has sponsored and operated the award-winning
 Mental Health Net website (http://www.mentalhelp.net).  Mental Health Net
 currently receives 500,000 visits and delivers more than 1.5 million pages of
 information every month.  Lifescape.com (http://www.lifescape.com) is
 recognized as one of the premier sources of clinically vetted behavioral
 health information on the Web. The combination that CenterSite(TM) represents
 is unparalleled in the industry in depth, breadth, and quality.
     "LifeOptions signals a different way of doing business, as we work to make
 Web technology and its benefits accessible to our broader customer base,"
 notes John Paton, President of CMHC Systems. "The combined knowledge of the
 behavioral health industry and resources of this joint endeavor is unique,
 something no one of us alone could bring to this effort, and clearly
 represents a commitment to succeed. We are especially pleased to be a part of
 this endeavor, which enables us to offer new services and value to these
 customers, based on the experience and good will we have gained in sponsoring
 Mental Health Net for the past five years."
     Jerry Koop, CEO of Creative Socio-Medics (CSM) stated, "The CenterSite
 platform completes the final link for the web portal business model. The site
 is supported by the combined strength of the largest suppliers of IT services
 in the behavioral health market, CSM and CMHC, and the leading connectivity
 platform in LifeNet.  By pooling these resources, CenterSite becomes the ideal
 vehicle to distribute customized web sites and scalable practice management
 solutions to each partner's respective client base. A new age solution has
 been added to an established and successful business model."
     John L. Koontz of Intellipsych offered, "What differentiates LifeOptions
 from all of its processors is that we're enhancing all facets of a provider's
 professional relationships, with content facing the consumer and through
 LifeNet transactions facing the payer.  We facilitate better clinical care via
 high quality information and interactive features, while not losing site of
 the importance of the business side with prompt eligibility, authorization and
 claims functionality."
     Paul Duck of Intellipsych added, "Given the spate of recent withdrawals
 from the provider IT field, and the rash of dot-com failures, we're soon going
 to be one of the few viable options in this space.  LifeOptions, given the
 background and competence of its founding partners, is positioned on firm
 ground both technologically and fiscally for the long term."
     Mike McDonald, formerly the CFO of CMHC Systems, and responsible for the
 Mental Health Net website, has been named COO of the new venture.  "We are
 very excited about this partnership and our first service offering.
 CenterSite gives providers a unique opportunity to reach out to their
 communities in a way that has not been possible before.  Forward-thinking
 behavioral healthcare centers recognize they need an online presence to better
 fulfill their care-giving and educational missions, and to enhance their
 standing within the communities they serve.  We provide them a complete
 website with thousands of pages of information and thousands of useful links
 to other sites.  Most importantly, our editors constantly update the content
 with the latest news and information giving consumers a reason to visit the
 site again and again.  Centers can add pages of information specific to their
 center, including staff, programs, locations, hours, and more.  All of this
 material is presented as the center's web site under the center's name and
 logo. We already have several agencies signed up for the service and we expect
 it to ramp up rapidly."
 
     About CMHC Systems, Inc.
     CMHC Systems (http://www.cmhc.com) has been a recognized leader in the
 development and delivery of information technology to the healthcare and human
 services industries for more than 22 years. Integrating clinical, financial,
 demographic, and staff data, the CMHC/MIS permits total management of
 information and works with all major network architectures. CMHC has helped
 provide information management solutions to more than 500 organizations with
 650 sites in 41 states.
 
     About Netsmart
     Netsmart (http://www.netsmartech.com), through its wholly-owned subsidiary
 Creative Socio-Medics (CSM), has been a leading supplier of enterprise-wide
 software solutions for human services providers for the past 30 years. CSM
 (http://www.csmcorp.com), with over 500 behavioral healthcare clients
 nationwide, including 15 state agencies, provides enterprise-wide solutions
 for behavioral healthcare providers. Avatar Practice Management and the Avatar
 Clinician WorkStation, CSM's core products, are full-featured information
 systems that operate on a variety of operating systems, hardware platforms,
 and have unlimited scalability. The Company's new SmartMed smart card will be
 applied to the e-commerce requirements of the human services Internet
 applications.
 
     About Intellipsych
     Intellipsych is a payer-backed venture that focuses on the behavioral
 health care provider community. The mission of Intellipsych is to provide a
 "universal payor/universal provider" connectivity solution in LifeNet, that
 improves the efficiency and effectiveness of the delivery and management of
 behavioral health care services.
 
 SOURCE  Netsmart Technologies