Netsmart Technologies' Insight Public Health Software Selected by Three Michigan County Health Departments

GREAT RIVER, N.Y., Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Netsmart Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of software and services for health and human services organizations, today announced agreements with three Michigan public health departments to implement Netsmart's Insight public health software solution.

The Oakland County Health Division, Calhoun County Public Health Department and Van Buren County/Cass County District Health Department each selected Netsmart's Insight software. Insight is a Windows-based commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software product designed specifically to meet the unique clinical and operation requirements of public health.

The Oakland County Health Division needed a software solution to enhance Public Health Nursing Services. This new technology would eliminate redundant data entry and hard copy client files; consolidate databases for tracking and reporting; enable staff to work more efficiently; automate key processes; and increase ease, accuracy and efficiency of state reporting. Netsmart was selected by Oakland County following an extensive Request for Proposal (RFP) process involving several software providers.

The Calhoun County Public Health Department selected Insight software to replace less efficient, paper-based processes. They sought increased efficiencies, cost reduction, and automated reporting capabilities, and also cited the Insight software solution's ease of use as another factor in their selection.

Van Buren County/Cass County District Health Department is transitioning to Insight software from Netsmart's CMHC/MIS software.  Van Buren/Cass District took advantage of Netsmart programs designed to help organizations evaluate the best option from within the Netsmart family of software solutions that meets their needs and requirements.

In each case, Netsmart's public health implementation experience and collaborative public health customer community were cited as significant factors in the selection of Insight software. As an example, Netsmart customers participate in the Netsmart Community, a  professional networking  Web site exclusively for Netsmart customers to share ideas, best practices, and peer-to-peer tips on how to get the most out of their Insight software solution.

"Insight has the capabilities to help us continue providing outstanding service to Oakland County residents," said George Miller, director, Oakland County Department of Health and Human Services. "In addition, Netsmart's user groups, online customer support and KnowledgeBase database will offer our staff unique information sources to help them get the most out of Insight software for the benefit of our organization."

"We're pleased to be the technology partner of choice for 14 local health departments in Michigan, covering 30 counties and the Detroit metro area," said James L. Conway, chief executive officer, Netsmart Technologies. "We pride ourselves in offering products and software solutions that enable our customers to provide the highest level of service to their clients and meet the criteria for Medicaid and Medicare funding for the Meaningful Use of Electronic Health Records."

About Netsmart Technologies, Inc.

Netsmart Technologies is an established, leading supplier of enterprise software and software as a service (SaaS) solutions for health and human services providers. More than 18,000 customer organizations, including 350,000 care providers and 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 expertise and solutions 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 experience in electronic health record certification, the InfoScriber™ e-prescribing service, the Netsmart CareConnect™ service that will enable the sharing of clinical information through health information exchanges, the Netsmart ConsumerConnect™ Web portal to provide consumer access to their care information, and a flexible platform to capture and share outcomes data.  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. Netsmart's Avatar 2011 software recently completed the first phase of Certificate of EHR Compliance for Stage 1 Meaningful Use criteria.

Netsmart's Connected Care initiative allows behavioral and public healthcare providers to share clinical data electronically within their internal processes, externally with other providers, and with consumers via a Web-based portal, enabling high quality, consumer-directed care.

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.

This EHR Module (Avatar 2011) is 2011/2012 compliant and has been certified by 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, InfoScriber, Netsmart CareConnect and Netsmart ConsumerConnect are trademarks of Netsmart Technologies, Inc.

SOURCE Netsmart Technologies, Inc.