CMHC Systems Executes Major Contract for IT Services in Nebraska; Lincoln/Lancaster County Health Department Newest CMHC Customer - First in State.

Business Editors, Health & Medical Writers

DUBLIN, Ohio--(BW HealthWire)--Feb. 20, 2001

CMHC Systems, a leading provider of information technology for the healthcare and human services industries, is pleased to welcome Lincoln/Lancaster County Health Department as its first Nebraska customer, expanding CMHC Systems' range of services to include 41 states.

Lincoln/Lancaster County Health Department, located at 3140 "N" Street, Lincoln, Nebraska, is a full service local public health department that serves the 230,000 residents of the city of Lincoln and Lancaster County. The department provides environmental health, personal health, and dental health services as well as animal control services, epidemiology services, and Medicaid enrollment for the area. Employing 220 full-time staff, Lincoln/Lancaster has served the public for more than 100 years and has received numerous awards and recognition since its first budget of $500 was developed in 1886.

Last year, Lincoln/Lancaster County Health Department (LLCHD) completed the Healthy People: Community Health Objectives for 2010, setting community-wide goals for public health outcomes. Healthy People is the basis for planning, program development, and evaluation for the next 10 years.

"We use technology as a tool to do our job better," says LLCHD Program Manager Kathy Cook. "We make sure everything we design has the ability to interface with GIS capability. It is our job to support the work that is done by our public health professional staff. That's the reason we value high quality technology." With implementation of the CMHC/MIS, LLCHD will look towards the long-term goal of paperless records. "A distinct advantage of the CMHC/MIS is that the MIS/Remote PalmPilot interface will let us keep better records, track them efficiently, and eliminate the materials that our nurses have to carry into the field from day to day." The average weight nurses carry on home visits is 40-50 pounds. Fitting that volume of information into a device that weighs just a few ounces is "Working better. Working smarter."

CMHC Systems Senior Product Engineer Janet Wellspring says the company is looking forward to growth possibilities as a result of the Lincoln/Lancaster customer addition. "From the start of the sales process we realized that Lincoln/Lancaster County Health Department is a progressive agency that seeks to be a leader in the industry. We are very excited to have LLCHD as a customer and partner."

Since 1978, CMHC Systems has pioneered the development of technology and management information systems for human service organizations. Integrating clinical, financial, demographic, and staff data, the CMHC/MIS permits total management of information. Using browser-based software and operating under UNIX, the CMHC/MIS combines a powerful multi-tasking system with Internet technology to create a graphical environment allowing quick and easy system navigation. The CMHC/MIS works with all major network architectures. CMHC has helped provide information management solutions to more than 500 organizations with 650 sites in 41 states and more than 25,000 end-users.

For more information about Lincoln/Lancaster County Health Department, contact Kathy Cook, Program Manager, at 402-441-8092 or via email at [e-mail] or visit their web site at www.interlinc.ci.lincoln.ne.us.

For more information on CMHC Systems, write us at 570 Metro Place North, Dublin, Ohio, 43017; call 888-848-8111; fax [phone]; e-mail [e-mail]; or visit our web site at www.cmhcsystems.com.