Ramsey County Mental Health Center Announces Go Live of DSS, Inc.’s Fully Integrated EHR System

Ramsey County Mental Health Center, a St. Paul, Minn., facility serving individuals with mental and behavioral health disorders, today announced the go-live of a fully integrated electronic health records (EHR) system from DSS, Inc., a provider of software, support and development of vxVistA. The launch includes the installation of six integrated DSS applications that were developed to streamline billing, scheduling, data management and access to client records.

“Our team is extremely excited to be partnering with Ramsey County on this endeavor, as we are committed to tackling the distinct software challenges posed by mental and behavioral health settings,” said Mark Byers, President and CEO of DSS. “We have worked closely with Ramsey to configure the system to meet their unique workflow needs and to facilitate the interdisciplinary collaboration that is necessary for a mental health practice.”

Ramsey County serves approximately 3,000 patients each year and previously managed its caseload using paper-based client charts in conjunction with an electronic scheduling and billing system. Ramsey released its formal request for proposal in 2008, searching for a solution that would offer billing and scheduling functionalities, compile state-regulated reports, and provide EHR capabilities developed specifically for a mental health setting. The organization selected DSS in 2009 for being the only company that met each of its requirements.

A Ramsey County steering committee, comprised of both administrators and clinicians, worked with DSS to manage a phased, long-term implementation. MEDfx, a DSS practice management system, was the first component to be installed in June 2010, followed by vxVistA in November 2010. The two systems are fully integrated, sending client registration and scheduling data from MEDfx to vxVistA and treatment data from vxVistA to MEDfx for billing purposes.

In 2010, DSS and Ramsey also collaborated on the development of customized templates for vxCPRS, an open-source order entry and results reporting module. The final applications, installed in early 2011, include:

• vxGroup Notes—an application used in group therapy settings to simultaneously create progress notes for multiple clients with shared/common text, as well as personalized text for each client.
• vxVitals—a module that facilitates the capture, tracking and trending of vitals data.
• vxMHS—the mental health suite that allows clinicians to efficiently create, edit, and view interdisciplinary client records while meeting governing organization standards.

With this EHR technology, Ramsey County providers are now able to access client charts simultaneously, document ongoing psychotherapy notes and monitor interdisciplinary treatment plans. They are also able to access insurance eligibility through MEDfx, and customize standards and templates within the modules that promote best practices.

DSS has placed a significant focus on developing customized EHR solutions for unique healthcare settings in the past several years, offering tailored solutions for mental health providers, dental offices, home-based healthcare professionals, radiology and oncology. To learn more about DSS, visit www.dssinc.com.