NASHVILLE, TN--(Marketwired - October 25, 2016) - More than 1,500 community care professionals are charting the course for improving lives and reducing costs at CONNECTIONS2016, Netsmart's landmark event taking place at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, Tenn. The second day keynote, delivered by Netsmart Executive Vice President of Corporate Development Kevin Scalia, provided a compelling picture of the challenges faced by addiction treatment, behavioral health, child and family services, intellectual and developmental disabilities, public health, and home health and hospice providers while examining the opportunities health IT provides to not only adapt but thrive.

"Only 50 percent of human services providers utilize a commercial electronic health record (EHR), whereas nearly 80 percent of primary care providers are well-versed in capturing and sharing relevant electronic clinical data," said Scalia. "As the market prepares for value-based care there are tremendous tools available to coordinate care, increase client engagement and achieve cost-savings."

Among the biggest technology gaps faced by providers preparing for value-based care:

• Interoperability
• Reporting and analytics
• Robust billing software
• Population health tools
• Patient outreach and engagement solutions

"Moving to a value-based payer-provider relationship is about more than changing the way you are paid," Scalia told attendees. "It's about us collectively changing the way we operate. It's about integrating systems and teams and agreeing upon evidence-based practices that ensure optimum care. It's also about providing the full picture of a person by connecting the mind, body and community data."

CONNECTIONS2016 marks the 10th anniversary of the landmark event, featuring more than 160 educational sessions. This year saw the addition of a pre-conference Nursing Summit and on-site Mental Health First Aid certification.

"The communities we serve are in the midst of tremendous change," said Netsmart CEO Mike Valentine. "But we've long said that with change comes opportunity. Through technology, services and advocacy, we can and are positively impacting the lives of millions of people."

About Netsmart
Netsmart is healthcare's largest human services and integrated care technology provider. Netsmart technology platforms and expertise are integral to the delivery of outcomes-based services and care to more than 25 million persons nationwide.

Netsmart serves more than 500,000 users in more than 24,000 organizations across all 50 states. Netsmart client communities include behavioral health; addiction treatment; intellectual and developmental disabilities; child and family services; public health; home health, hospice and palliative care, and private duty; and vital records.

Netsmart's CareFabric® suite, a framework of innovative clinical and business solutions and services, supports integrated, coordinated delivery of health services across the spectrum of care.

Netsmart's HIT Value Model™ metric, a vendor-agnostic planning and measurement system, provides a path for human services organizations to evaluate where on the healthcare IT spectrum they should focus their efforts, the value associated with that strategic decision and a comparison with peer organizations nationwide.

Netsmart is pleased to support the EveryDayMatters® Foundation, which was established for human services organizations to learn from each other and share their causes and stories. For more information, visit www.everydaymatters.com

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