Netsmart and Ohio’s Hospice Expand 10-Year Innovation Partnership to Advance Hospice Models of Care

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Netsmart and Ohio’s Hospice are announcing a 10-year innovation partnership to advance hospice models of care supported by the industry-leading Netsmart CareFabric^® platform. This partnership will bring to market new technology capabilities to support value-based care programs, leverage the CareFabric platform to support all post-acute service lines on a single platform and advance the next-generation of palliative care capabilities. In addition, Netsmart and Ohio’s Hospice will work together on solutions to help solve staffing challenges, support closed-loop referrals and bridge gaps of care.

Netsmart and Ohio’s Hospice first expanded their partnership in 2018 to extend a robust technology platform to Ohio’s Hospice’s associate and affiliate members in a move to allow providers to share information securely and seamlessly with other healthcare providers. Ohio’s Hospice and Netsmart then expanded their relationship again to members of National Hospice Cooperative. National Hospice Cooperative was established by Ohio’s Hospice to provide world-class business support services to community-based, not-for-profit hospice providers around the nation. This membership allows them to gain access to support services and technology that allows them to dedicate more dollars directly to their clinical mission and patient care. As Ohio’s Hospice has grown, the organization is committed as ever to delivering superior hospice care and services and expanding this superior care and services into its palliative care services through the implementation of myUnity^®.

“Since first partnering with Netsmart, our organization has grown and now provides more care to more patients and families throughout our expanding service areas,” said Kent Anderson, CEO of Ohio’s Hospice. “Netsmart is the right partner for us, as we work side by side to manage and adapt quickly to the rapidly evolving healthcare environment. Together, we have collaborated to bring new innovations to the market, which are vital to providing superior care and superior services to each patient and family we have the privilege to serve wherever they call home – at home, assisted living or skilled nursing facilities, our Hospice Houses, or inpatient care centers.”

As staffing continues to be a challenge for many organizations, this partnership has already furthered technology innovation and development. Netsmart collaborated with Ohio’s Hospice to enhance the capabilities of a care logistics tool for proactive workforce management. Through this unique collaboration, Netsmart will drive capabilities including route optimization, call center management, schedule visibility for providers, shift bidding, electronic visit verification (EVV) and integration through the electronic health record (EHR) platform.

“Ohio’s Hospice is seen in the industry as a key thought leader. This is purely a case of both organizations seeing the future state in a very similar fashion and creating a working partnership model that will ultimately accelerate both of our journeys,” said Mike Valentine, CEO of Netsmart. “We are incredibly proud to be able to join forces with this team to address some of healthcare’s most important challenges.”

The partnership aligns Netsmart and Ohio’s Hospice as thought leaders and innovators committed to leading the transformation of the existing healthcare ecosystem to put the patient at the center of healthcare and emphasize value over volume. To support this effort, the partnership will focus on delivering innovations that support home care and hospice, inclusive of family and member engagement, meaningful clinical decision support, insightful analytics and advanced billing automation.

About Ohio’s Hospice

Ohio’s Hospice is a partnership of mission-driven, not-for-profit hospices committed to a shared vision of strengthening and preserving community-based hospices. Members of Ohio’s Hospice share the values of:

• Providing a patient atmosphere of hospitality, respect and caring
• Attending to the social, physical and spiritual needs of each person we are privileged to serve
• Preserving and enhancing patient dignity
• Celebrating the life of each individual we serve
• Reducing unnecessary suffering in the communities we serve

Affiliates of Ohio’s Hospice serve 37 counties across the state of Ohio. Affiliates of Ohio’s Hospice include: Community Care Hospice, Ohio’s Community Mercy Hospice, Ohio’s Hospice at United Church Homes, Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare, Ohio’s Hospice Loving Care, Ohio’s Hospice of Butler & Warren Counties, Ohio’s Hospice of Central Ohio, Ohio’s Hospice of Dayton, Ohio’s Hospice of Fayette County and Ohio’s Hospice of Miami County.

Associate Members of Ohio’s Hospice include: Community Hospice and Valley Hospice.

About Netsmart

Netsmart, a leading provider of Software as a Service (SaaS) technology and services solutions, designs, builds and delivers electronic health records (EHRs), health information exchanges (HIEs), analytics and telehealth solutions and services that are powerful, intuitive and easy-to-use. Our platform provides accurate, up-to-date information that is easily accessible to care team members in the human services and post-acute care (which is comprised of home care and hospice and senior living) markets. We make the complex simple and personalized so our clients can concentrate on what they do best: provide services and treatment that support whole-person care.

By leveraging the powerful Netsmart network, care providers can seamlessly and securely integrate information across communities, collaborate on the most effective treatments and improve outcomes for those in their care. Our streamlined systems and personalized workflows put relevant information at the fingertips of users when and where they need it.

For more than 50 years, Netsmart has been committed to providing a common platform to integrate care. SIMPLE. PERSONAL. POWERFUL. Our more than 2,300 associates work hand-in-hand with our 680,000+ users at our clients across the U.S. to develop and deploy technology that automates and coordinates everything from clinical to financial to administrative. Learn more about how Netsmart is changing the face of healthcare today. Visit www.ntst.com, call 1-800-472-5509, follow us on our CareThreads Blog, LinkedIn and Twitter, like us on Facebook or visit us on YouTube. Netsmart is pleased to support the EveryDayMatters® Foundation, which was established for behavioral health, home care, senior living and social services organizations to learn from each other and share their causes and stories.

About National Hospice Cooperative

National Hospice Cooperative is a nonprofit organization that provides world-class business support services to community-based, not-for-profit hospice providers. Through the cooperative, not-for-profit hospices can dedicate more dollars directly to their clinical mission while benefiting from a unique shared infrastructure to broaden purchasing power, employ efficient indirect services, and utilize financial management, which are all designed to support their mission while minimizing costs. National Hospice Cooperative, a direct affiliate of Ohio’s Hospice, is based in Dayton, Ohio.

Contacts

Netsmart Media Contact:

Vince Koehler

vkoehler@ntst.com
913.272.2235

Ohio’s Hospice Media Contact:

Craig Schrolucke

cschrolucke@ohioshospice.org
937.781.1319