News

The Conway Daily Sun featured an article about the first ever Echo Cash Mob in its April 18th edition.  Here’s a link to the article:

http://www.conwaydailysun.com/index.php/businessx/local-business/89447-cash-mob-lifts-local-business

Echo is proud to support our local community businesses as a longtime member of the local community, since 1980.

On Wednesday April 25, 2012 at 1:00 PM ET, join us for an informative presentation on how one Behavioral Health organization is leading the charge integrating Primary Care and Behavioral Health Care.

Integrated Care is Now: A Case study on Integrating Behavioral Health and Primary Care, featuring Steve LaFleur from Grand Lake Mental Health Center as he presents their innovative approach to delivering integrated services.

Register Now

About the Presentation:

Grand Lake Mental Health Center in Nowata, OK was the first behavioral health organization to receive Meaningful Use funds.  A year later they are continuing to seize opportunities to deliver behavioral healthcare differently and advance their mission.  EHR incentive funds have driven upgrades to their software platform and allowed them to launch an innovative program to provide on-site Primary Care services to their SMI and SED population.  Acknowledging that PCPs and ERs all have challenges working with SMI and SED populations, Grand decided to create a one stop shop to improve the lives and health of the people they work with.  In this session learn how they have already begun delivering true integrated care and the technology they are using to support the initiative.

Free Whitepaper

Download a Whitepaper that Profiles Three Behavioral Health organizations and how they are integrating care

In 2011 Echo customers were at the forefront of Meaningful Use, with the first three behavioral health organizations to get paid all being Echo customers.

In 2012, they are leading the charge again, this time with Primary Care and Behavioral Health Integration. This week at the CiMH conference in California, Steve LaFleur from Grand Lake Mental Health Center gave an exciting presentation on the innovations that Grand Lake is making with their Integrated care service delivery model.   They are just one of many Echo customers who are leading the field in integrated care.   We have several opportunities for you to learn more about the innovative approaches our customers are taking:

Learn more about how Echo customers are addressing Integrated Care with these offerings at the National Council conference in Chicago on April 15th & 16th:

• EHR’s and Healthcare Integration
  Sunday, April 15 from 3:15 to 4:15 pm Northwest 3, Lower Lobby Level

o   Larry Smith, Grand Lake Mental Health Center CFO (panel participant)

o   Diana Knaebe, Heritage Behavioral Health CEO, (panel participant)

• Stop by our booth (#311) to:

o   Receive a free Whitepaper on Primary Care Integration

o   Learn more about the upcoming Web Seminar on the Primary Care Integration project already in progress at Grand Lake Mental Health Center in Nowata, OK

o   Learn more about how the Echo VHR supports Primary Care Integration

o   Remember to enter one of our drawings to win a free Kindle Fire.  We’re giving away several of them each day at the conference.

Attend a Free Webinar and Download our Integrated Care Whitepaper:

Wednesday April 25, 2012 1:00 PM ET:
Integrated Care is Now: A Case study on Integrating Behavioral Health and Primary Care, featuring Steve LaFleur from Grand Lake Mental Health Center as he presents their innovative approach to delivering integrated services.
Register Now

Download a Whitepaper that Profiles Three Behavioral Health organizations and how they are integrating care

4/18/12 Update: Article in the local paper about the Cashmob:   http://www.conwaydailysun.com/index.php/businessx/local-business/89447-cash-mob-lifts-local-business Stay tuned for more information on the next one in May.

Joe Viger, VP of Business Development first learned about a Cash Mob in Portland, Maine.  He loved the idea and brought it back to Echo with the idea of starting one in the Mt. Washington Valley.   So what exactly is a Cash Mob?  Well, Wikipedia defines it like this:

A cash mob is a group of people who assemble at a local business and all buy items from that business. The purpose of these mobs is to support both the local businesses and the overall community. They may also serve a secondary purpose in providing social opportunities. They were inspired by flash mobs.

So on Wednesday April 11th, Echo decided to sponsor one for its employees.  At 9AM on the 11th, a local business name will be drawn out of a hat.  Then Echo employees will be given at extra 30 minutes break time during the day to each spend $20 at that business.  The first one Echo is sponsoring, providing the cash, and then after that the company hopes that the idea will take off on its own and employees will continue the tradition, spending $10 or $20 of their own money in future cash mob events in the Mt. Washington Valley.

“It’s a really fun idea that Joe brought back to the office,” remarked Director of Marketing, Paul Kirsch.  “Echo has been a business in the Mt. Washington Valley for over 30 years and has always been supportive of local businesses.  The company already gives us an extra day off to work on any community service project of our choosing.  This cash mob idea is another great way we can  help give back to the community we all live in.”

Echo will be announcing the business that will be cash mobbed at 9AM on the 11th and posting it right here on the Echo website and also on our twitter feed @echosoftware.

Can non-Echo employees join in the fun?

Echo is sponsoring Echo employees but there’s nothing to stop anyone in the community from participating.  Just check here at the website at 9AM to see the business that was picked.  Then spend $10 or $20 or whatever you can afford at that business today.  Make sure to tell the business that you’re there as part of the Mt. Washington Valley Cash Mob.

The Business that’s picked for the first MWV Cash Mob is Sherman Farms!

East Bay Center and Newport County Community Mental Health have selected The Echo Group to provide electronic health record and billing software.

“East Bay Center, Inc. reviewed several software packages over a year’s time and found that The Echo Group’s software to be the best fit.  Overall, the clinical staff liked the “one-look” feature of Echo’s Visual Health Record and found this to be unique to other packages” commented Victor Sardelli, East Bay Center’s Vice President and CFO.

The East Bay Center in Barrington, RI is a comprehensive behavioral health provider working to improve the quality of life for individuals and families affected by struggles with mental illness and substance abuse disorders.

Mr. Sardelli stated that the organization would look to Echo to assist them in “moving to a paperless EHR environment for work-flow and billing to realize improvements in regulatory compliance and cash flow.”  He also pointed out that The Echo Group’s staff were also a point of distinction in their selection, “Although we are just beginning implementation, we have found that The Echo Group’s staff bring an in-depth knowledge of the capabilities of their product and the industry.  They also were helpful and knowledgeable assisting us in the process toward acquiring federal incentive funding.”

Newport County Community Mental Health (NCCMHC) in Middletown, RI has provided comprehensive behavioral health services since 1964.   NCCMHC works with individuals and families to achieve a better quality of life and a new sense of independence.  Ralph Franco, Vice President and CFO at NCCMHC said “The Echo Group’s flexible products, previous work in Rhode Island and their leadership around primary care integration initiatives all influenced our decision to choose The Echo Group software.  Of all the products we looked at, Echo’s VHR had the best overall look and feel and the right balance of price and features that separated their solution from the rest. ”

“This is an exciting time for us in Rhode Island” commented Joe Viger, VP of Business Development at The Echo Group.  “We are thrilled to add quality organizations like East Bay Center and NCCMHC as Echo customers.  They will be great partners to our long time customer, The Kent Center, who is engaged in innovative work to offer primary care integrated with their behavioral health services.  We believe this provides a tremendous user community in the State.”