National MIS User Group

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The electronic newsletter for July 2010 is now available in the "downloads" section of this website.

Lakeside Behavioral Healthcare Receives NTST INNOVATION Award

At Connections 2010, NTST 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.

Electronic Health Record Training

NUG is sponsoring another training opportunity for its members. On April 8th and 9th, 2010, Chris Singel, Director of Application Development for Geminus Corporation in Merrilville IN will be conducting a session on setting up an electronic health record from start to finish. Chris' agency uses the MIS and eCET for their electronic health record. Participants in this training will walk away with handouts detailing all the steps involved as well as all the necessary parm files. Where else can you get this type of training and also have the added comfort of being able to take with you hard copies of everything you need to recreate the project in your own agency!

CCHIT Update

The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) has released a draft of its proposed certification criteria for behavioral health electronic health records (EHRs).

CCHIT has developed two sets of criteria for behavioral health services: one set for the needs of behavioral health as an add-on to a physician�s office, and one as a stand-alone certification.

The National Council will be submitting comments on the proposed criteria. Stay tuned to future issues of the Public Policy Update for more information

Latest Training Summits Huge Success

Early in November NUG sponsored two outstanding training summit opportunities.

A two-day �Beginning uScript� class was held November 9-10, 2009 at MHCD in Denver, CO. Wes Williams received very high marks from the attendees for his training skills. Here are just a few of the comments following the class:

� �I would give Wes and the uScript class �Above Average� or �Exceeds Expectations� in all areas. Although the class was involved and mentally demanding it was very well presented and conducted. Wes took the time to understand the experience levels of all the members and then tailored his presentation to our individual needs�.

� �Although it was a challenge, Wes explained and helped along the way. I liked that Wes took some of the folks ideas for uScript and went through them to explain in a real life cir*****stance. That was extremely helpful. I would recommend Wes� uScript class to anyone who would like to learn uScript�.

A second two-day session was offered at Geminus in Merrilville IN November 12-13, 2009. Presenters Hulette Williams and Trish Rosich did a wonderful job with their topic � �Tools For A More Efficient AR Process�. They received excellent evaluations as well with 100% of the attendees stating this session should be offered at future Training Summits. Some comments were:

� �Excellent program. Open discussion periods were very beneficial and of great help�.

� �Great information! I really appreciated the user�s input�.

� �Comparing scenarios, problems and successes was good. Also, good feedback and answers from the trainers�.

Every effort is being made by NUG to continue to offer this type of training on at regional locations and at a cost that is very affordable. If you have suggestions for sites, topics and/or presenters please do not hesitate to contact Sue Miller at sue@nugmis.org.

How To Access Benefits of ASC X12 Membership

The ASC X12 website (www.x12.org) has many benefits to offer NUG members besides the discount for purchasing 5010 Implementation Guides. If you have visited the site and wondered how to be able to take advantage of some of those benefits here are some instructions:

ASC X12 membership is based on company affiliation so to participate, register for the event or service and BE SURE to enter "National MIS User Group" for the company name. This is the key. Without identifying yourself in this way, your registration will not be accepted and you will not receive any discounts afforded to NUG members.

Webinars are posted at:
http://www.x12.org/x12org/webinars/index.cfm

Meeting registrations may be found at:
http://www.x12.org/x12org/meetings/x12trimt/index.cfm#reg

ASC X12 publications may be accessed from:
http://store.x12.org/partners.htm

If you have questions about any of the information on these sites, please send an email to: info@disa.org.

Two New Training Summits Offered

NUG SPONSORED TRAINING SUMMITS As promised, NUG continues to develop low-cost high quality training opportunities for its members. The next two classes will be offered in November 2009. Class: Beginning uScript When: November 9-10, 2009 Where: Mental Health Center of Denver (MHCD), Denver CO Presenter: Dr. Wes Williams Class: Tools For A More Efficient AR Process When: November 12-13, 2009 Where: Geminus Corporation, Merrillville IN Presenters: Trish Rosich and Hulette Williams In attempt to keep the registration fees as low as possible the sessions will be offered at an agency. Each agency will be conveniently located for air travel, lodging and meals. Please check under Miscellaneous Files in the Downloads section for the Registration Form and class descriptions.

Managing Saved Lists Just Got Easier!

New Features in CMHC/MIS That Will Help You Better Manage Your Saved Lists! The new Saved List File Manager enhancement provides several new features to help you better manage your saved lists. Now you can save time and prevent users from overwriting other users saved list. The new features include: � Locking a saved list (to prevent inappropriate deletes and overwrites) � Assigning an owner to a saved list � Assigning a category to a saved list (for organization purposes) � Specifying a default category � Storing who originally created the list and at what time � Storing who last updated the list and on what date & time � Ability to remove, print, lock, and categorize multiple lists at the same time (a great time saver!!) In addition, each program that uses Saved Lists has been enhanced to respect the new locking and category features. Several parameters were added to let you customize the programs. Here are screen shots of the new file manager shown in both the browser and the character interfaces: For more information or if you have questions, please contact Connie Patterson at cpatterson@ntst.com.

Two Upcoming Training Summit Opportunities

TRAINING SUMMIT ANNOUNCEMENT Tuesday, September 15, 2009 The National MIS User Group will be sponsoring two trainings this fall. The first training will be held November 9 and November 10 at Mental Health Center of Denver (MHCD) in Denver CO and will be a two day Beginning uScript class. The second training will be held November 12 and November 13 at Geminus in Merrillville IN and will be a two day AR class. Geminus, located at Merrillville IN , is located close to Chicago IL . Anyone flying in would fly in to the Midway Airport , Chicago IL . NUG is in the process of finalizing instructors and content for the classes. More information will be coming shortly. These classes are available to NUG members. Class sizes will be limited so when the registration forms are sent out, please be sure to act promptly to save your spot. And remember ... the fee will definitely be affordable!

mtSchedule Webinar

Tracy Hinkley from Spurwink gave 16 attendees an opportunity to see what mtSchedule looks like straight out of the box and then with some enhancements made through her custom uScripts today in the most recent of the NUG sponsored webinars. NUG plans to offer at least one webinar each month (more if we can find enough willing presenters!). These sessions are available to all NUG members. The notifications and invitations will be posted on the list serve. If you are reading this and have NOT signed up to participate on the list serve ... you are missing out on lots of good information! I challenge everyone who presented at this year's Connections conference to sign up to present their same session via webinar. If you survived presenting live and in person and since you already have your session complete, please consider donating one more hour of your time to a worthy cause. If you would be willing to present or if you have a topic you would like to see presented, please email me at dcoulter@fmrs.org. Thanks! Deb