Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health and Netsmart Launch Integrated Behavioral Health Information Management System

Netsmart and the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LACDMH) have reached a major milestone with the initial launch of the Integrated Behavioral Health Information System (IBHIS).


IBHIS is LACDMH’s comprehensive behavioral health clinical, administrative and financial information system through which LACDMH coordinates behavioral health services for a county with a population of nearly 10 million.


“After intensive preparation and teamwork from everyone at LACDMH and our partners at Netsmart,we’re extremely pleased to have IBHIS up and running,” said LACDMH Director Marvin Southard, D.S.W.“ This huge leap forward will create never-before-seen capabilities to quickly access and share information critical to the support and care of our clients and their families.”

The initial phase will be followed by additional LACDMH directly-operated clinics and contracted providers going online. During the next several months, more than 3,000 users and over 600 contracted providers will be using IBHIS information in real time, providing coordinated care through real-time access to authorized health record information key to continuity of care.


IBHIS uses Netsmart’s myAvatar™ CareRecord™ as its foundation electronic health record (EHR), which interfaces with contracted provider EHRs and will interface with other Los Angeles County information systems to improve overall care coordination. The system is hosted by the Netsmart Plexus™ Cloud secure hosting service in the company’s SSAE16-certified, ISO 27001/27002-compliant data center.


When fully deployed, LACDMH will manage approximately one-third of California MediCal (Medicaid)claims dollar volume using IBHIS.


“We’re pleased to play a key role in the development and launch of a system that will help transform the way LACDMH delivers behavioral health services to people in the nation’s largest county,” said Netsmart CEO Michael Valentine. “This implementation brought predictability to a complex process and helped structure a true partnership between Netsmart and LACDMH.  And this is just the beginning...a foundation for the future. LACDMH is a leader and innovator, and together we’re poised to have a positive impact not only for those served by LACDMH, but for the larger behavioral health community.”


Netsmart is the knowledge and technology partner for nearly 480 county behavioral health providers nationwide, including 18 counties in California. Netsmart has received the Premier Partner of the Year award from the National Association of Counties (NACo) for its commitment to empower counties, county employees and communities while developing public-private solutions and relationships.


About LACDMH
The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health is the largest county-operated mental health department in the United States, directly operating 75 program sites and more than 100 co-located sites.Each year, it contracts with approximately 600 agencies and individual practitioners to provide a spectrum of mental health services to more than 250,000 residents of all ages. The Department’s mission – enriching lives through partnership to strengthen our community’s capacity to support recovery and resiliency – is accomplished by working with stakeholders and community partners to provide clinically competent, culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate mental health services to clients in the least restrictive manner possible.


About Netsmart
Netsmart is committed to helping health and human services providers deliver effective, outcomes- based care with Netsmart CareFabric™, a tightly woven framework of innovative clinical and business solutions and services that supports integrated, coordinated delivery of health services across the spectrum of care.


More than 23,000 client organizations, including 450,000 care providers and more than 40 state systems use Netsmart solutions to help improve the quality of life for more than 25 million people each day. Netsmart clients include mental health and addiction services agencies, health homes, psychiatric hospitals, private and group mental health practices, public health departments, social services and child and family health agencies, managed care organizations, and vital records offices.

Netsmart is pleased to support the EveryDay Matters Foundation, which was established for behavioral and public health organizations to learn from each other and share their causes and stories. Organizations can also request grants for their cause or to help fund technology that advances the way care is delivered. For more information, visit www.everydaymatters.com/foundation.

Learn more about how Netsmart and CareFabric are changing the face of healthcare today. Visitwww.ntst.com, call 1-800-472-5509, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook or visit us on YouTube.