The Integrated Behavioral Health Information System (IBHIS), within the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LACDMH), is a comprehensive behavioral health clinical, administrative and financial information system. The system recently launched will enable LACDMH to coordinate behavioral services for a county with a population of nearly 10 million.
LACDMH is the largest county-operated mental health department in the U.S directly operating 75 program sites plus more than 100 co-located sites. Each year, LACDMH contracts with about 600 agencies and individual practitioners to provide a spectrum of mental health services to more than 250,000 residents of all ages.
IBHIS uses Netsmart’s “my Avatar CareRecord” as its EHR to interface with contracted providers and their EHR systems and to also interface with other LA County information systems to improve overall care coordination. Netsmart is the technology partner for nearly 480 county behavioral health providers nationwide including 18 counties in California.
“After intensive preparation and teamwork from everyone at LACDMH and partners at Netsmart, we are extremely pleased to have IBHIS up and running,” reports LACDHM Director Marvin Southard, D.S.W.
The initial phase for the launch will be followed by additional LACDMH directly-operated clinics and contracted providers going online. During the next several months, more than 3,000 users and over 600 contracted providers will be using IBHIS information in real-time. This will provide coordinated care through real-time access to authorized health record information.
For more information, go to http://dmh.lacounty.gov/wps/portal/dmh.