OVERLAND PARK, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Netsmart received a grant from MeHI, the Massachusetts eHealth Institute at MassTech, to develop, test and implement an automated interface to record children’s behavioral health data across state and health provider systems and electronically share that data with the Commonwealth’s Children’s Behavioral Health Initiative(CBHI). Through the collaboration of Netsmart, Netsmart clients: The Edinburg Center, Gosnold on Cape Cod, and The Home for Little Wanderers, and MeHI, the team has achieved the first milestone under the grant requirements and is live and exchanging data with the CBHI through the interface.
At a time of increased need for clinical services and intense funding pressure, this integration is expected to eliminate more than 400 hours of duplicative manual reporting each month for these three Netsmart clients. The pilot is slated to expand to include additional Netsmart clients across the state, with an anticipated annual savings of more than 20,000 hours. This is expected to translate into increased efficiency for these organizations, which will allow them to provide more services without increased staff.
All Massachusetts behavioral health clinicians serving MassHealth’s children and youth are required to use a standardized Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) reporting tool that is designed to record issues and strengths that should be considered during treatment. This makes the clinical process more efficient, which in turn results in lower overhead costs. Historically, clinicians must enter CANS information into their own electronic health record (EHR) system and reenter it into the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) Virtual Gateway System, Massachusetts’ EHR platform that brings information together to comply with state regulations.
“With this grant, we anticipated our staff would be able to eliminate the repetitive work of reentering duplicative information into different databases to save time and money, and more importantly, allow them extra time to deliver essential care to their clients,” said Michael Pearis, executive vice president & CFO of The Home for Little Wanderers. “Nearly all of our programs conduct CANS assessments and in achieving the first milestone of the grant project, our clinical teams are already beginning to see the benefits this connectivity brings to our organization.”
Netsmart’s work was made possible through MeHI’s grant solicitation for the development of CBHI interfaces for CANS reporting, which will allow these Massachusetts providers to upload reportable data from the Netsmart EHR platforms directly into the CBHI system overseen by EOHHS.
“We’re taking a step forward by removing this time-straining, duplicative task so our clients can focus on their mission to better serve their communities,” said Netsmart CEO Mike Valentine. “This isn’t our destination, rather a milestone in our journey to true integration. We look forward to working with MeHI and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to create efficiencies for their providers and a connected care network.”
About Netsmart
Netsmart is an innovative healthcare technology provider that provides electronic health records (EHRs), health information exchange, data analytics, mobile clinical and consumer engagement solutions for behavioral health, social services and post-acute communities. Our common platform, the CareFabric®, integrates seamlessly with the industry’s first-of-its-kind population management platform that uniquely focuses on community-based providers and supports transitions of care, bundles and value-based payment models.
