Netsmart Technologies, a provider of clinical solutions for health and human services organizations, announced a way to help clinicians upgrade and make their workflows more efficient so they can spend more time with clients, helping them “rethink” their business models.
"We're living and working in a speed of thought environment," said Tom Herzog, Netsmart executive vice president, solutions and operations, in the press release. "Our focus on innovation is driven by our clients' desire to drive down costs, but more importantly, provide high quality care. It's no longer about agile development, but also agile design -- delivering today what our clients need tomorrow."
Understanding and improving workflow in the healthcare field is paramount today, with new laws imposed by the healthcare reform. “Healthcare transformation requires a comprehensive vision of care delivery that understands the importance of effective workflow in delivering care,” Barry P. Chaiken, MD, writes.
Chaiken adds that proper use of IT requires workflow redesign that safely uses technology “to enhance processes and workflow while delivering higher levels of safe and efficient patient care.”
A white paper on workflow and its impact on quality of care explained that, in healthcare, as in other industries, workflows are dynamic – some are designed, while others arise organically and evolve. But a good workflow process is vital to successful healthcare practices, they maintain.
And here’s where Netsmart comes in. According to the release, Netsmart Primary Care Module for Health and Human Services allows providers to provide medical care services, capture and store the associated data and integrate it directly into the consumer's electronic health record (EHR), supporting what the company calls “a holistic approach to care,” and streamlining workflow.
Netsmart’s solutions target behavioral health and addiction services providers, psychiatric hospitals, local health departments, social services and child and family health agencies, I/DD organizations, managed care organizations and vital records offices.
Netsmart also offers Netsmart CareManager, a system where the EHR is integrated with the care coordination system.
Another Netsmart solution, Netsmart Perspectives Mobility Suite allows clinicians to be in touch with their offices and process work wherever they are. The Netsmart Perspectives suite provides apps for e-prescribing, kiosk check in/out, patient mHealth, learning management tools, observation recording, health device monitoring, medication adherence, IT system monitoring and dashboards.
Netsmart is preparing to be “cloud-ready.” According to the release, "By the middle of the year we will be managing over 500 facilities with our Netsmart Plexus Cloud secure hosting environment," said Herzog. "We have tripled our investment in our hosting services, opened another data center and continue to expand our services to host most any application."
The Netsmart announcement was made in conjunction with the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare's 42nd Mental Health and Addictions Conference in Chicago and the CONNECTIONS2012 Netsmart Client Conference in New Orleans April 23-26, 2012.
Edited by
Brooke Neuman
