LifeOptions, LLC Announces Web-based CenterSite!
ISLIP, N.Y., March 28 /PRNewswire/ -- CMHC Systems, Inc. (CMHC),
Netsmart Technologies, (Nasdaq: NTST), through its wholly-owned subsidiary,
Creative Socio-Medics, Inc. (CSM), and Intellipsych, LLC announce the
formation of a joint venture company called LifeOptions Network, LLC aimed at
providing a suite of Internet Services to Behavioral Health Providers. The
initial offering from LifeOptions Network is a compelling re-brandable
consumer healthcare portal, called CenterSite(TM) (http://www.centersite.net)
that will initially allow the CMHC and CSM customer base the ability to
deliver comprehensive consumer behavioral health information via the web.
CMHC and CSM are two of the largest and most respected providers of IT
products and services to the human services industry whose combined customer
base employs more than 100,000 behavioral health practitioners. Intellipsych
brings to LifeOptions Network the LifeNet platform a secure universal
payer/universal provider connectivity solution, content from Lifescape.com,
and a wealth of Internet technology expertise specifically focused on the
needs of behavioral health providers.
The joint venture will begin by selling within the combined customer base
of its three constituent companies, but plans to quickly branch out to cover
the entire industry through developing partnerships with provider
associations, payers, and the public sector.
CenterSite(TM) is based on the combined resources of two outstanding
established websites, Mental Health Net and Lifescape.com. For the past
5 years, CMHC Systems, Inc. has sponsored and operated the award-winning
Mental Health Net website (http://www.mentalhelp.net). Mental Health Net
currently receives 500,000 visits and delivers more than 1.5 million pages of
information every month. Lifescape.com (http://www.lifescape.com) is
recognized as one of the premier sources of clinically vetted behavioral
health information on the Web. The combination that CenterSite(TM) represents
is unparalleled in the industry in depth, breadth, and quality.
"LifeOptions signals a different way of doing business, as we work to make
Web technology and its benefits accessible to our broader customer base,"
notes John Paton, President of CMHC Systems. "The combined knowledge of the
behavioral health industry and resources of this joint endeavor is unique,
something no one of us alone could bring to this effort, and clearly
represents a commitment to succeed. We are especially pleased to be a part of
this endeavor, which enables us to offer new services and value to these
customers, based on the experience and good will we have gained in sponsoring
Mental Health Net for the past five years."
Jerry Koop, CEO of Creative Socio-Medics (CSM) stated, "The CenterSite
platform completes the final link for the web portal business model. The site
is supported by the combined strength of the largest suppliers of IT services
in the behavioral health market, CSM and CMHC, and the leading connectivity
platform in LifeNet. By pooling these resources, CenterSite becomes the ideal
vehicle to distribute customized web sites and scalable practice management
solutions to each partner's respective client base. A new age solution has
been added to an established and successful business model."
John L. Koontz of Intellipsych offered, "What differentiates LifeOptions
from all of its processors is that we're enhancing all facets of a provider's
professional relationships, with content facing the consumer and through
LifeNet transactions facing the payer. We facilitate better clinical care via
high quality information and interactive features, while not losing site of
the importance of the business side with prompt eligibility, authorization and
claims functionality."
Paul Duck of Intellipsych added, "Given the spate of recent withdrawals
from the provider IT field, and the rash of dot-com failures, we're soon going
to be one of the few viable options in this space. LifeOptions, given the
background and competence of its founding partners, is positioned on firm
ground both technologically and fiscally for the long term."
Mike McDonald, formerly the CFO of CMHC Systems, and responsible for the
Mental Health Net website, has been named COO of the new venture. "We are
very excited about this partnership and our first service offering.
CenterSite gives providers a unique opportunity to reach out to their
communities in a way that has not been possible before. Forward-thinking
behavioral healthcare centers recognize they need an online presence to better
fulfill their care-giving and educational missions, and to enhance their
standing within the communities they serve. We provide them a complete
website with thousands of pages of information and thousands of useful links
to other sites. Most importantly, our editors constantly update the content
with the latest news and information giving consumers a reason to visit the
site again and again. Centers can add pages of information specific to their
center, including staff, programs, locations, hours, and more. All of this
material is presented as the center's web site under the center's name and
logo. We already have several agencies signed up for the service and we expect
it to ramp up rapidly."
About CMHC Systems, Inc.
CMHC Systems (http://www.cmhc.com) has been a recognized leader in the
development and delivery of information technology to the healthcare and human
services industries for more than 22 years. Integrating clinical, financial,
demographic, and staff data, the CMHC/MIS permits total management of
information and works with all major network architectures. CMHC has helped
provide information management solutions to more than 500 organizations with
650 sites in 41 states.
About Netsmart
Netsmart (http://www.netsmartech.com), through its wholly-owned subsidiary
Creative Socio-Medics (CSM), has been a leading supplier of enterprise-wide
software solutions for human services providers for the past 30 years. CSM
(http://www.csmcorp.com), with over 500 behavioral healthcare clients
nationwide, including 15 state agencies, provides enterprise-wide solutions
for behavioral healthcare providers. Avatar Practice Management and the Avatar
Clinician WorkStation, CSM's core products, are full-featured information
systems that operate on a variety of operating systems, hardware platforms,
and have unlimited scalability. The Company's new SmartMed smart card will be
applied to the e-commerce requirements of the human services Internet
applications.
About Intellipsych
Intellipsych is a payer-backed venture that focuses on the behavioral
health care provider community. The mission of Intellipsych is to provide a
"universal payor/universal provider" connectivity solution in LifeNet, that
improves the efficiency and effectiveness of the delivery and management of
behavioral health care services.
SOURCE Netsmart Technologies
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.netsmartech.com
http://www.centersite.net http://www.mentalhelp.net
http://www.lifescape.com http://www.cmhc.com
http://www.csmcorp.com
CONTACT:
John Paton of CMHC Systems, Inc.,
800-434-CMHC, info@cmhcsys.com; Ron Marge of Creative-Socio
Medics, Inc., 800-421-7503, ext. 2026, info@csmcorp.com; Paul
Duck of Intellipsych, LLC, 727-393-5990,
paul.duck@intellipsych.com; or Mike McDonald of LifeOptions
Network, 800-467-1482, mike@lifeoptions.com
|
