As demand for behavioral health services increases across FQHCs, community clinics, and psychiatric facilities, organizations are under pressure to deliver high-quality care while managing complex workflows and regulatory requirements. Choosing the right behavioral health EHR is a critical part of that equation, and Netsmart is commonly selected by mental health organizations seeking a system designed specifically for behavioral health care.
The Behavioral Health EHR Landscape
Top behavioral health EHR applications in the $1.56 billion market today include the following:
- Netsmart, which leads satisfaction ratings per Mordor Intelligence
- NextGen, which The Medical Practice named as the best AI note-taker
- A range of smaller, more niche EHR applications
Although application specifics vary by vendor, the best behavioral/mental health EHR solutions leverage integrated, interoperable care models and maintain a strong client focus.
Challenges With Retrofitting Non-Specialized EHRs for Mental Health Care
While general-purpose EHRs are powerful, they often require significant customization to address the specialized workflows of behavioral health. Purpose-built systems like Netsmart aim to reduce this ‘configuration gap’ out of the box.
EHRs that document primary care visits, for example, can have workflows that work well with the type of scenario where appointments are regularly scheduled or otherwise fit structured patterns. In these organizations, medical professionals enter information into templates in predictable ways with straightforward insurance coding.
These, however, don’t typically need to capture nuance. They don’t account for how a therapist or other mental clinician invests their time and attention into individualized and group patient care, as the clinician must force their specialized workflows into a rigid structure designed for primary care.
When this happens, rather than providing accurate time savings, these EHRs actually add another layer of friction between the professionals and the necessary documentation. Plus, a 2022 study from the Journal of Medical Internet Research concluded that “mental health–related information was regularly missing from EHRs, especially sensitive information.” They also discovered that:
EHRs were found to disrupt information workflows in the mental health context, especially when they did not include appropriate templates or care plans. Usability issues also contributed to workflow concerns. Managing the documentation of sensitive information in EHRs was problematic; clinicians sometimes watered down sensitive information or chose to keep it in separate records . . . As EHRs are increasingly considered critical for modern health systems, health care decision-makers should consider how EHRs can better reflect the complexity and sensitivity of information practices and workflows in the mental health context.
What Makes a Behavioral Health EHR Different
Applications specifically tailored for behavioral health providers seamlessly fill in the gaps for a more complete solution. They include the following features and benefits:
Flexible Documentation Templates
Less rigid documentation structures allow behavioral and mental health professionals to capture more subtle data, use their EHR application to adapt to crisis interventions, and facilitate multiple sign-offs.
Narrative Support for SOAP/DAP Notes
Mental health and behavioral health EHR systems dovetail with the “subjective, objective, assessment, and plan” approach of the SOAP philosophy, allowing clinicians to record patient feelings along with observable behaviors. This combination of inputs permits mental health professionals to more accurately assess the situation and create a meaningful, customized treatment plan.
Applications that are set up for EHR evaluation for behavioral health also mesh well with the DAR (data, action, and response) charting system, allowing the information to be effectively used with crisis response and group therapy workflows.
Compliance With 42 CFR Part 2 and SAMHSA Requirements
Specialized EHR systems close the confidentiality and compliance gaps for patients having substance use disorders recorded in their health records. The technology also closes gaps associated with SAMHSA grant reporting, multi-party treatment care, coordination, and more.
Integrated Care Workflow Support
Overall, by choosing an EHR system that’s behavioral-first, your healthcare organization benefits from the integrated planning and real-time documentation that’s crucial for mental health care. Professionals can leverage pre- and post-service workflows as they provide interoperable, value-based care. As an additional benefit, ease of use and workflows that match processes can help to lower burnout of social services professionals.
Switching to Mental Health EHR Solutions
According to a Gartner Digital Markets 2024 study, triggers that cause clinics and other organizations to switch to behavioral health-specific technology include:
- Inefficiency of current tools: 32 percent
- Limited functionality: 26 percent
- New business opportunities: 22 percent
Current solutions often don’t provide sufficient task automation for billing, scheduling, or invoicing, leading to too many manual inputs. When critical features are missing, organizations are forced back into cumbersome, redundant manual processes to bridge the gap. As clinics expand, the software may not provide what they now need to manage data, causing a lack of scalability, which is a key reason why organizations switch to dedicated mental health applications.
When switching, Gartner queried organizations about the features they prioritize, with top ones being “therapy notes/EHR, appointment management, billing and invoicing, and telemedicine.”
Netsmart Behavioral Health EHR Solutions
Netsmart includes a suite of behavioral EHR platforms, led by myAvatar and myEvolv.
myAvatar
This platform specifically focuses on providing technologies needed by integrated care behavioral health clinics, addiction treatment organizations in community-based clinics, and residential and inpatient programs.
Features include clinical decision support, real-time analytics, integrated operational and clinic workflows, and intuitive dashboards. These features combine to benefit recovery clinic professionals through smoother decision-making.
myEvolv
This platform focuses on transforming clinics serving families and children; people with developmental and intellectual disabilities, including but not limited to the autism spectrum; and those dealing with mental health issues. Evaluation tools in this fully web-based, ONC-certified EHR provide real-time insights wherever the professional is located.
Both myAvtar and myEvolv create real-world impacts through integrated workflows, robust embedded compliance tools, and more to enhance clinician satisfaction. Plus, our Netsmart EHR consulting firm is primed to help your clinic implement, integrate, and optimize this behavioral health EHR.
In 2025, Netsmart’s CareConnect platform has “become the de facto standard for behavioral health data exchange” with a 40 percent market share in integrated care locales. Moreover, myAvatar has reduced administrative burdens by 30 percent and has led to a 15 percent boost in patient engagement. To demonstrate the application’s value-based care enablement, the software’s analytics suite now fields 25 percent of risk-sharing contracts for ACOs in the United States that focus on behavioral health integration.
Netsmart’s projected CAGR of 18 percent through 2028 indicates how it’s “poised to leverage its dominant position in behavioral health IT to become the central nervous system of value-based care delivery.” A look at the company’s strategic goals supports this statement: a focus on data explanation, deepened AI, and more seamless care coordination.
Comparing Netsmart to Other Behavioral Health EHRs
Just like Netsmart and its myAvatar and myEvolv platforms, NextGen offers top-shelf, integrated mental health EHR solutions used in outpatient, community care, and residential settings. Benefits cited by users include the quality of its mobile documentation and all-in-one reporting, smooth interoperability, and revenue-enhancing solutions. In 2025, NextGen Behavioral Health was named number one in Best in KLAS.
As other options, Meditab provides mental health-specific templates, including ones for addiction, anxiety disorders, dementia, schizophrenia, and other complex conditions. The platform also provides automated assessment and diagnostic screening tools from IMS in a single platform. Holmusk, meanwhile, has built a powerful, real-world data set of clinical information and a robust evidence engine, NeuroBlu Data, for a single source of truth in its granular assessment tools. TheraNest by Ensora Health is HITRUST certified and HIPAA compliant, with note-taking, billing, and scheduling functions for therapists.
Netsmart distinguishes itself in this competitive field through its specific architecture for integrated care models and deep focus on community-based workflows, offering a distinct alternative for organizations prioritizing those specific operational paths.
To determine which system is best for you, our skilled consultants can conduct an EHR evaluation for behavioral health and make recommendations. Niche experts can then work alongside your in-house team with the FQHC EHR implementation, integration, optimization, as well as providing engaging, targeted training programs, and cleaning and migrating data. We provide project management, change management, and more.
Why Specialized Behavioral Health EHR Consulting Matters
Behavioral health EHR consulting support allows your healthcare organization to make the best selection for your specific goals and then implement it effectively. HealthTECH Resources has deep knowledge of the needs of behavioral health organizations and the technologies available to support them. Netsmart EHR consultants are carefully vetted before being added to our broad network of experts.
By collaborating with the right Netsmart EHR consulting firm, you can improve care delivery, reduce clinician burnout, support compliance, and avoid misconfigurations efficiently and cost-effectively.
Partner with HealthTECH Resources for Your Netsmart Strategy
Whether you are evaluating Netsmart against other platforms like NextGen, or need to optimize an existing myAvatar implementation, HealthTECH Resources provides the EHR consulting expertise to ensure your technology supports your clinical mission.
HealthTECH Resources provides focused EHR consulting support for behavioral health organizations with complex needs. We take the time to understand your goals and match you with experienced Netsmart consultants, whether you need short-term expertise, long-term support, or permanent talent. View our case studies to see how we’ve helped organizations navigate EHR selection and implementation with confidence.
PRESIDENT/CEO AT HEALTHTECH RESOURCES
Larry has specialized in building strategic healthcare relationships for over 25 years, helping the nation’s top payors and providers solve some of their most pressing business challenges through an intelligent mix of staffing services, training, and consulting.