Geminus Corporation Named Recipient of Second Annual Netsmart Technologies Customer Innovation Award

ORLANDO, Fla., May 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Netsmart Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of enterprise-wide software and services for health and human services organizations, today named Geminus Corporation of Merrillville, Ind., as the winner of the second annual Netsmart Customer Innovation Award. The award recognizes organizations for their use of a Netsmart product or service and other technology in new and creative ways to effectively address client needs, achieve organizational goals and respond to regulatory and reporting demands. The award was presented to Geminus at the opening general session of CONNECTIONS2011, Netsmart's annual customer conference held May 17-19 in Orlando, Fla.

A Netsmart customer for more than 25 years, Geminus was recognized for using Netsmart solutions to create management and individual clinician dashboards to facilitate daily monitoring of reporting requirements, outcome measures, productivity and operational efficiencies. As a result of their innovative use of Netsmart solutions, Geminus recognized significant annual cost savings through the implementation of electronic health records, an increase in the dollar amount of point-of-service monthly cash collections, improvement in Progress Notes efficiency, and more timely submission of financial reports because of improved data capture and processing.

"Regional Mental Health's reimbursement from the State of Indiana relies on timely submission of data, timely assessments and improved outcome measures," said Sanford Kauffman, president, Geminus Corporation. "The daily dashboard delivery method puts data into the hands of the staff, which can make the necessary improvements that are required to promote successful outcomes."

Geminus Corporation is a management group that offers innovative concepts and provides comprehensive support services, human resources, communications, purchasing, accounting, finance, client billing, and management information systems, for behavioral health care providers and human service organizations. Geminus also hosts and supports a local Federally Qualified Health Center's electronic health record and practice management system. Regional Mental Health Center in Merrilleville, Ind., is one of organizations for which Geminus provides professional services and where the dashboards were implemented.

"Implementation of the dashboard gives staff the kind of instant feedback that helps keep them on task. They're empowered, engaged and feel included in helping the Center achieve our goals," said Bob Krumweid, chief executive officer, Regional Mental Health Center. "Our clinicians also have an easy-to-use tool that makes documentation faster, easier and more meaningful to client care. This leads to safer and much improved client care and outcomes."

As recipient of this year's award, Geminus received a $10,000 cash award and two complimentary registrations to CONNECTIONS2011.

"Our Customer Innovation Award is an opportunity to recognize organizations that have used technology to improve patient/client care and make a tremendous difference in the lives of others," said Michael Valentine, chief executive officer, Netsmart Technologies. "Geminus' use of Netsmart solutions has had a strong impact on their ability to provide quality services in an even more efficient manner."

Netsmart also presented honorable mention recognition to:

• Community Services Northwest, Vancouver, Wash. – for increased efficiencies through improved clinician scheduling, reduction of print costs, improved client service and reduced charting times. As an example, assessment wait time decreased from 21 to six days.
• Johnson County Health Department, Johnson County, Kan. - for implementing electronic medical record processing, increasing client accessibility to services, improving billing processes, and decreasing paper and print costs.
• Mental Health Center of Denver, Denver, Colo., - for implementing a document management system that improved document capture and handling to ensure consumer security, confidentiality and compliance.  
• Rebekah Children's Services, Gilroy, Calif. - for implementing an electronic billing system that reduced error rates and the time required to bill a county for services.  

The Netsmart Customer Innovation Award was open to all Netsmart customer organizations. Award applications were judged on criteria including innovation, impact on care, scale and financial impact. Entries were evaluated by a panel of industry leaders:

• Linda Rosenberg, MSW, president and CEO, National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare
• Don Hevey, president and CEO, Mental Health Corporation of America
• Mark Covall, president and CEO, National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems

For more information about innovative technology solutions that Netsmart Technologies can offer to your health and human services organization, www.ntst.com or call 1-800-472-5509.

About Netsmart Technologies, Inc.

Netsmart Technologies is an established, leading supplier of software-as-a service (SaaS) and

internally-installed software solutions for health and human services providers. More than 18,000 customer organizations, including 350,000 care providers and more than 40 state systems, use Netsmart products to help improve the quality of life for millions of people each year.

Netsmart customers include mental health and substance abuse treatment agencies, psychiatric hospitals, private and group mental health practices, public health departments, vital records offices, and managed care organizations. Netsmart's products are full-featured information systems that operate on a variety of operating systems, hardware platforms, and mobile devices, and offer unlimited scalability.

Netsmart provides the solutions and expertise that help its customers meet all the criteria for Meaningful Use of an Electronic Health Record (EHR) under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. These include a Complete ARRA-Certified electronic health record and associated solutions, including Netsmart OrderConnect™ for e-prescribing and order entry, Netsmart CareConnect™ that enables the sharing of clinical information with labs and other providers, and the Netsmart ConsumerConnect™ Web portal to provide secure and private consumer access to their care information. Netsmart customers can utilize Netsmart solutions to meet all Stage 1 Meaningful Use criteria, avoiding the costly and time-consuming process of integrating solutions from multiple vendors.

For information about Netsmart Technologies' full range of solutions for health and human services organizations, visit www.ntst.com or call 1-800-472-5509.

Avatar 2011, the CMHC/MIS 4.2 EHR Module and Insight 7.0 Module are 2011/2012 compliant and have been certified by the Drummond Group, an ONC-ATCB in accordance with the applicable certification criteria adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. This certification does not represent an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or guarantee the receipt of incentive payments.

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