Lakeside Behavioral Healthcare Named Winner of First Annual Netsmart Technologies Customer Innovation Award

GREAT RIVER, N.Y., April 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Netsmart Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of enterprise-wide software and services for health and human services organizations, today named Lakeside Behavioral Healthcare of Orange County, Fla. as the winner of the first annual Netsmart Customer Innovation Award.

The Netsmart Customer Innovation Award recognizes organizations for their use of Netsmart and other technology in new and creative ways to effectively address client needs, achieve organizational goals and respond to regulatory and reporting demands.  Lakeside will receive a $10,000 cash award and two complimentary registrations to the Netsmart CONNECTIONS2010 Customer Conference to be held May 3-6 in San Diego.

A private, not-for-profit organization, Lakeside provides comprehensive inpatient and outpatient community behavioral healthcare services to more than 18,000 people in Central Florida.  

Lakeside was recognized for implementing innovative technology solutions that reduced medication errors by 56 percent (.036 to .016) and cut client check-in time on the inpatient census from 20 minutes to one minute, enabling their clinicians to dedicate more time to client care.

For inpatient care, Lakeside developed a census tracking system that significantly shortened the time needed to admit new clients, reduced repetitive paperwork and streamlined the entire admissions, transfer and discharge processes. The system, used by inpatient staff members across seven inpatient units and 200 beds, also unified how data was managed, accessed, consolidated and retrieved, and provides "at a glance" reports of census data. Billing has also become more efficient and accurate.

For outpatient care, Lakeside implemented an electronic medication management system to reduce the possibility of prescribing and dispensing errors. This comprehensive system streamlined procedures and enhanced coordination between various programs. Through the new easy-to-use system, doctors can easily review clients' medication histories, update allergies, add new prescriptions and refill or discontinue current medications with just a few mouse clicks.

"'We're honored to receive this award that recognizes substantial enhancements to our client care processes through the innovative use of technology," said Jerry Kassab, president and CEO, Lakeside Behavioral Healthcare. "We couldn't be happier with our ability to provide the enhanced care our patients are receiving as a result of these innovations."

"Providing innovative solutions that enhance care is at the heart of our mission, so we're pleased to recognize organizations that have partnered with us to improve patient/client care and make a tremendous difference in the lives of others," said James L. Conway, chief executive officer, Netsmart Technologies.  "The selection committee was impressed by how Lakeside's efficient use of technology significantly impacted their ability to provide quality client care. In fact, among the many excellent entries received, Lakeside received the highest score possible for 'impact on care' from all members of the selection committee," said Conway.

Netsmart also presented honorable mention recognition to:

• Community Services Northwest, Vancouver, Wash. – for its innovative use of the client treatment plan and electronic signature, eliminating 36,000 printed pages annually
• Community Mental Health of Ottawa County, Holland, Mich. – for an advanced outcome database that helps them see trends, receive feedback on the effects of specific therapies, and improve quality of care
• Daymark Recovery Services, Concord, N.C. – for an enhanced crisis hotline system using Web services technology to unify its phone systems and electronic health records to facilitate the knowledge-based engagement of clients through its 24-hour mobile crisis, inpatient, and outpatient continuums of care in its 17 county coverage area
• Arizona State Hospital, Phoenix, Ariz. – for an order notification system that automates new orders and notifies staff within 30 seconds of filing. The system reduced paper orders by 80% and the time nurses spend on lab requisitions to zero

Each organization receiving an honorable mention will receive one complimentary registration to the Netsmart CONNECTIONS2010 conference.

The Netsmart Customer Innovation Award was open to all Netsmart customer organizations. Award applications were judged on criteria including innovation, impact on care, scale and financial impact. Entries were evaluated by a panel of network leaders:

• Linda Rosenberg, MSW, president and CEO, National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare
• Don Hevey, president and CEO, Mental Health Corporation of America
• Mark Covall, president and CEO, National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems

For more information about innovative technology solutions that Netsmart Technologies can offer to your health and human services organization, visit www.ntst.com or call 1-800-421-7503, Option 6.

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 nearly 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'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.

Netsmart provides experience and solutions that help its customers meet the evolving definition of "meaningful use" 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 enables 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.

For information about Netsmart Technologies' full range of solutions for health and human services organizations, visit www.ntst.com or call 1-800-421-7503, Option 6.

InfoScriber is a trademark of Netsmart Technologies, Inc.

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

SOURCE Netsmart Technologies, Inc.