Case Study: Netsmart achieves expanded access to timely opioid and behavioral health care with Amwell

How Netsmart uses a combination of healthcare technology, policy and integrated care and data sharing to tackle the opioid crisis

Netsmart, a long-standing healthcare IT company serving behavioral health, substance use and related care settings, faced the challenge of improving access to timely, coordinated treatment for individuals with opioid use disorder across large and often rural networks. In 2018 Netsmart partnered with Amwell to integrate Amwell’s telehealth platform (including Amwell telemedicine carts) into the Netsmart EHR, creating a virtually connected community to close gaps in specialist access, support opioid registries and enable medication-assisted treatment workflows.

By embedding Amwell’s virtual care into the Netsmart EHR, providers can launch on-demand or scheduled virtual visits, e-prescribe controlled substances, run assessments like COWS, and use opioid registries and quality measures at the point of care. In a highlighted deployment with Netsmart client AltaPointe Health, the Amwell-enabled integration supported more than 8,700 telehealth sessions (over 1,100 ED consults), cut ED psychiatry consult time from 24–72 hours to 28 minutes, and delivered a 33% reduction in ED costs for consumers while expanding access to psychiatrists across the network.

Netsmart

Neal Tilghman

General Manager