Great River, NY (PRWEB) July 15, 2008 -- Netsmart Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of enterprise-wide software and services for health and human services organizations, today announced dates for a special Web seminar to help behavioral health organizations understand electronic prescribing (http://ntst.com/e-prescribing/) and the new Medicare bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate that provides financial incentives to physicians that use e-prescribing technology.

The bill includes a two percent incentive for physicians who use electronic prescribing starting in 2009 and a two percent pay cut for Medicare-participating physicians who do not adopt e-prescribing by 2012. The electronic prescribing measures are part of H.R. 6331, the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008. The bill is considered "veto-proof" because of its margin of passage, and has been sent to the President for his signature.

The Netsmart Web seminar will focus on helping organizations understand how e-Prescribing works (http://ntst.com/e-prescribing/) and to achieve the benefits of e-Prescribing. The Web seminar will be offered at several times:

* Wednesday, July 23, Noon ET

? Friday, August 1, 2:00 p.m. ET

? Monday, August 11, 3:00 p.m. ET

? Tuesday, August 19, 4:00 p.m. ET

? Thursday, August 21, 11:00 a.m. ET

Netsmart's InfoScriber e-prescribing solution (http://ntst.com/e-prescribing/) will help behavioral health clinical staff achieve the e-prescribing-related benefits associated with H.R. 6331 and take advantage of the new incentives. InfoScriber is a secure, Web-based prescribing and medication management system developed for the unique requirements of behavioral health providers. InfoScriber checks drug interactions automatically at the time of prescribing and then routes the prescription electronically to the pharmacy of choice via the Pharmacy Health Information Exchange operated by SureScripts.

InfoScriber can be used as a stand-alone application or linked with an organization's existing clinical systems to securely share demographic and medication information. InfoScriber is also integrated with Netsmart's Avatar, CMHC/MIS and Helper behavioral health practice management solutions to provide e-prescribing capabilities for users of those solutions. In addition to its e-prescribing functions, InfoScriber features a variety of medication management (http://ntst.com/e-prescribing/) functions, including reporting capabilities that help reduce polypharmacy and medication interaction risks.

"We are in a unique position to help providers take advantage of these new Medicare incentives because we provide the only e-prescribing solution in the market specifically designed for behavioral health," said James L. Conway, chief executive officer, Netsmart Technologies. "If an organization or practice is not using e-prescribing now, they must look at this bill as the catalyst to start prescribing electronically and realize the benefits to their consumers of reducing the possibility of medication errors and the opportunity to improve quality of care."

To register for the Netsmart e-prescribing Web seminar or to learn more, visit www.ntst.com/e-prescribing or call 1-800-421-7503.

About Netsmart Technologies, Inc.

Netsmart Technologies (http://ntst.com) is an established, leading supplier of enterprise-wide software 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's 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.

Pharmacy Health Information Exchange is a trademark of SureScripts

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