Netsmart Technologies Introduces Connected Care Architecture TM

Enables Users of Netsmart’s Enterprise Software Product Lines to Share Clinical Data for Continuity of Care and Provides Consumer Access Through Web Portal

Great River, NY (May 18, 2007) – Netsmart Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of enterprise-wide software and services for health and human services organizations, today introduced the Netsmart Connected Care Architecture(TM) (CCA), a consumer-centric framework for interoperability and electronic exchange of clinical information between behavioral and public healthcare organizations using Netsmart’s enterprise software solutions and through the newly-introduced Consumer Access Portal. The CCA was previewed to Netsmart customers at CONNECTIONS2007, the company’s customer conference, held April 30 – May 3 in Orlando, Fla.

Available this fall, the CCA works with Netsmart’s Avatar and CMHC/MIS behavioral health and Insight public health enterprise software product lines, enabling the sharing of clinical information between applications, programs, departments and agencies, and promoting continuity and quality of care for recipients of behavioral and public health services. The system enables any of Netsmart’s customer organizations to share data with any other Netsmart customer regardless of the Netsmart enterprise software product they are using, adding even more value to being part of health and human services’ largest customer community.

The CCA also includes the Netsmart Consumer Care Portal, which will be accessible via a browser from home or a public Internet access point and allow consumers to schedule appointments, review and comment on their treatment plans, view current medications and track usage, and communicate with their care providers.

“This initiative will enhance the continuity of care and improve outcomes as people increasingly receive assistance from a wide variety of providers in a broad range of interrelated programs,” said James L. Conway, chairman and CEO of Netsmart Technologies. “Our CCA is in keeping with the President Bush’s call for a nationally-integrated healthcare system. As the largest connected community in behavioral and public health, we are proactively providing this much-needed system to our customers, with the flexibility to adapt to national standards as they evolve.”

The CCA features the software and tools required for community mental health agencies, private sector and state psychiatric hospitals, and city and county public health departments to share data between systems. For example, referral and discharge information can be sent electronically between different agencies, promoting continuity of care not available before CCA. Providers can also securely access information about a consumer or patient’s active medications when they seek emergency or crisis mental health services from any element of the provider system, helping improve care and reduce medical errors.

The CCA was also developed with recognition that care is increasingly being delivered where it is convenient to the consumer, not at a central facility, which is why Netsmart continues to focus on developing solutions that enable more consumer involvement. Examples of these solutions include the Netsmart Mobile Care Manager, which enables a clinician or case manager to work disconnected in the field on a laptop computer and synchronize treatment notes and plans upon returning to their office. The Netsmart Mobile Care Manager works with both Avatar and the CMHC/MIS, and was demonstrated at CONNECTIONS2007.

“We are committed to making the Netsmart Connected Care Architecture an industry model for the delivery of high quality, collaborative, consumer-centric care and increased efficiency and information exchange for provider organizations,” said Conway.

Netsmart will host a free Web seminar, “Transforming Behavioral Healthcare using Connected Care,” on Tuesday, June 19 at noon ET. In addition to an overview of the Netsmart Connected Care Architecture, attendees will learn about a variety of industry changes that are driving organizations to serve their consumers in new and innovative ways. To register for the Web seminar, visit http://www.ntst.com/news/web_seminars.asp

Source: Netsmart