Netsmart Technologies Selected by City and County of San Francisco to Provide Integrated Behavioral Healthcare Software System

Netsmart Software Will Provide Common Platform for Consistent Electronic Health Record for All Citizens Using City and County Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services

Great River, NY (October 16, 2008) – Netsmart Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of enterprise-wide software and services for health and human services organizations, today announced it has been awarded a $9.9 million software and services contract by the City and County of San Francisco, Calif.

Under the agreement, the San Francisco Dept. of Public Health Community Behavioral Health Services (CBHS) will utilize Netsmart software and related services to manage all clinical and practice management information and processes.

Netsmart’s Avatar(TM) software suite will serve as the foundation for the wide-ranging San Francisco implementation, including the use of Avatar CalPM, which helps agencies meet unique reporting requirements and provisions of the State of California Mental Health Services Act (MHSA).

CBHS advises that approximately 3,000 active clinical, clerical and administrative staff will utilize Netsmart’s clinical, e-prescribing, practice management and managed services functions to provide
real-time health record documentation, billing, reporting and quality of care functionality, as well as providing the foundation for a consumer and family member portal to the electronic health record and the elements needed to establish the behavioral health client personal health record.

“We’re pleased to be selected to help San Francisco move to the next level in meeting the increasing demand for behavioral health services,” said James L. Conway, chief executive officer, Netsmart Technologies. “This major contract demonstrates our continued focus and growth as the behavioral healthcare software provider of choice in California, with solutions that meet the unique needs of public and community provider organizations.”

Netsmart is now the practice management and clinical technology partner for 44 behavioral health provider agencies and 29 counties in California.

CBHS provides mental health services to approximately 22,000 clients and substance abuse services to approximately 14,000 clients annually. Spanning all modalities of mental health and substance abuse treatment, those clients receive almost two million services per year.

CBHS provides community-based, comprehensive client services utilizing 175 mental health contract and civil service providers, 500 individuals, groups, and facilities in the managed mental healthcare Private Provider Network, and 35 substance abuse contract agencies operating 195 programs in multiple sites throughout San Francisco. In addition, dispersed community pharmacies and laboratories are used by behavioral health clients throughout the San Francisco network of Behavioral Healthcare.

Source: Netsmart