Netsmart Technologies' Insight™ Electronic Health Record Solution for Public Health Attains 100 Percent ARRA Certification

GREAT RIVER, N.Y., July 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Netsmart Technologies, Inc. (www.ntst.com), a leading provider of software and services for health and human services organizations, today announced that its Insight™ 7.1 electronic health record (EHR) software for local health departments has achieved 100 percent ONC-ATCB ARRA Ambulatory Certification.

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With the complete certification of the Insight solution, all three Netsmart enterprise software solutions have now attained 100 percent ARRA certification. Healthcare provider organizations must adopt an ARRA-Certified EHR to qualify for Medicaid or Medicare incentive funds for the Meaningful Use of an EHR.

"Attaining 100 percent ARRA certification for our enterprise software suites underscores our commitment to helping our clients provide the highest possible quality of care," said Michael Valentine, chief executive officer, Netsmart Technologies. "In a world of converging, integrated care we made a concerted decision to go beyond the basic ARRA criteria and build clinical and data integration capabilities into our solutions that equip our clients for long-term success."

Insight 7.1 software will be designated as a Complete EHR on the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Certified Health IT Product List. Testing was conducted under Drummond Group's Electronic Health Records ONC-ATCB program. Drummond Group, Inc., is an Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC-ATCB) named by the Office of the National Coordinator to provide Meaningful Use certification for EHR systems and applications.

"We appreciate that Netsmart is equipping its clients to qualify for Meaningful Use incentive funds, especially as local health departments and other health and human services agencies face unprecedented funding challenges," said Elaine Kempf, administrator, St. Clair County (Mich.) Health Department, an Insight software client organization.

Health departments are currently eligible for ARRA incentives based on the number of Eligible Professionals (EPs), such as physicians and nurse practitioners, in their organization, assuming the organization meets criteria for Meaningful Use of a certified EHR and the professionals assign their incentives to the organization. The total benefit for Medicaid Eligible Professionals is $63,750 per EP over a six-year period – a significant financial incentive for organizations.

In the first year of participation in the Medicaid Meaningful Use funding program, healthcare providers need only adopt (purchase) an ARRA-certified EHR to meet the Meaningful Use requirement of using an ARRA-certified EHR. There is no requirement to demonstrate Meaningful Use in the first year, and no EHR reporting is required. Eligible providers who have already adopted, implemented or upgraded to an ARRA-certified EHR would also receive a first year payment.

For more information about Netsmart solutions for local health departments, visit www.netsmartpublichealth.com. To learn more about Meaningful Use and how Netsmart helps behavioral health and public health organizations qualify for ARRA incentive funds, visit www.ntst.com/meaningfuluse.  

About Netsmart Technologies

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 client 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 clients include public health departments, mental health and substance abuse treatment agencies, psychiatric hospitals, private and group mental health practices, 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 clients meet all the criteria for Meaningful Use of an Electronic Health Record (EHR) under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 and avoid the costly, time-consuming process of integrating solutions from multiple vendors.

Building upon the complete EHR, Netsmart clients can also create a complete connected care environment using Netsmart OrderConnect™ for e-prescribing and order entry, Netsmart CareConnect™ to share clinical information and lab results, and the Netsmart ConsumerConnect™ Web portal to provide secure and private consumer access to care information.

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, CMHC/MIS 4.2 and Insight 7.1 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.

Avatar is a registered trademark of Netsmart Technologies, Inc.

Netsmart OrderConnect, Netsmart CareConnect, Netsmart ConsumerConnect and Insight are trademarks of Netsmart Technologies, Inc.

SOURCE Netsmart Technologies, Inc.