Behind Every Great EHR Is a Great Support Team: Evergreen’s Success with Netsmart

Let’s be real, sometimes software breaks, updates don’t go as planned and errors pop up unexpectedly. Healthcare technology powers nearly every moment of modern-day care. From logging vitals to updating care plans, electronic health records (EHRs) are at the heart of care delivery. But the true value of an EHR goes beyond the capabilities it offers; the true value lies in the support available for its end users.

In healthcare IT, whether you're a small, standalone facility or part of a large national organization, reliable end-user support isn't just a nice-to-have—it’s essential. Slow response times can delay medication administration, cause compliance headaches and even hurt your bottom line. End users need answers in minutes, not days and they need more than just a how-to video. They need real support from real people who are experts on the software.

About Evergreen

Evergreen Retirement Community, located in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, is a large continuing care retirement community (CCRC) that serves residents across a selection of aging services, including independent living, assisted living, memory care, short-term rehabilitation and skilled nursing.

To support its commitment to streamlined, person-centered care, Evergreen uses Netsmart myUnity®, a comprehensive EHR used campuswide. By providing a complete longitudinal resident record, myUnity enables staff to deliver consistent, informed care no matter the setting.

“We’ve been using Netsmart across all our senior living areas for about 13 years now, and that’s honestly one of the best parts. It’s great because we can go into the EHR and see a resident’s entire history from the day they arrived on our campus. We can easily look back at past admissions and get all the information we need. Having that kind of long-term record has been such a huge benefit.”

– Jane Peters, Director of Nursing, Evergreen Retirement Community

Experience with Netsmart Support

When asked about her experience with Netsmart Support, Jane shared,

“I've really enjoyed the support that Netsmart offers. I think it's very easy to go in to create a ticket, type out exactly what the problem is and then get a quick response from the Netsmart team.”

At Netsmart, our Support Portal is available 24/7, offering a fast, easy and HIPAA-secure way to log and manage support cases. You can log in anytime to open a case, track its progress and communicate directly with your support agent. Automated updates help clients stay informed every step of the way.

Jane also shared, “I really like that while I’m reading emails and we’re corresponding back and forth, I can jump into the ticket and add or share information right there. Everything’s in one place, which makes it really convenient when I need to check something, like questioning, ‘Did I already send them that screenshot?’ I can just click in, see our conversation, and confirm, ‘Yep, I sent it.’”

“As someone using the software, it’s so important to feel confident you’ll get the answers you need and know there’s a team ready to help when you run into problems you can’t solve on your own. It’s such a relief to have Netsmart’s amazing support team ready to jump in. Having that kind of backup is a huge part of what makes the whole system work.” - Jane.

Timely, Transparent Support When It Mattered Most

Recently Evergreen ran into an issue with their MDS data transmission. Two fatal errors showed up on a report, and despite their team’s best efforts, they couldn’t figure out why those MDS submissions weren’t accepted by the state. The error messages were confusing and unlike anything they’d seen before—there were no resident names, just asterisks, leaving them unsure which records were causing the problem or how to fix it.

After trying everything they could internally, Jane opened a ticket in the NetsmartCONNECT portal, and a representative from Netsmart quickly responded, asking for the transmission report so they could see the exact errors.

Jane shared, “I was able to attach that transmission report so they could directly look at it and I think just having that ability is wonderful because sometimes things are lost in translation. But being able to use the portal to send that report to Netsmart really helped us and it saved us from going back and forth multiple times trying to figure things out.”

One of the errors was resolved quickly. The second issue was more complex, and the Netsmart representative let Jane know that collaboration among Netsmart product experts was needed. Within 48 hours, Netsmart returned with a clear solution. The team was able to schedule the fix around Evergreen’s MDS transmission schedule and once applied, the corrections worked, and the fatal errors were successfully resolved.

"What really stood out to me as great customer service was when they said, ‘After Friday, reach back out and let us know how things turned out. Tell us if the fix worked,” said Jane.

The Results

By working directly with Netsmart, Evergreen was able to resolve the root problem before it could cascade into larger problems.

Jane explained that if the state doesn’t receive the MDS submissions on time, they would get hit with a 2% financial penalty. Additionally, the submissions have to be submitted in the right order, meaning that if they didn’t fix the initial issue, it would still be out of sync even if they submitted the next one on time.

“It felt like standing at the top of a hill—if we didn’t take care of it right away, we’d just keep sliding down, over and over,” said Jane. “It could’ve affected our quality measures and reporting, not to mention it could have led to more financial penalties and a lot of confusion with the MDS data for that one resident who’s still living at Evergreen."

The Conclusion

Evergreen's experience highlights the critical importance of responsive, expert support in healthcare technology. What could have been a costly compliance disaster, resulting in financial penalties and cascading data submission issues, was resolved efficiently through the Netsmart Support team. The combination of an accessible 24/7 portal, knowledgeable support representatives and proactive follow-up allowed Evergreen to maintain their quality measures and avoid regulatory penalties.

For healthcare organizations managing complex compliance requirements, having reliable support isn't just about fixing problems—it's about preventing them from snowballing into operational and financial crises. Evergreen's 13-year partnership with Netsmart demonstrates how the strength of an EHR depends just as much on the support behind it as the capabilities it offers.

“Just the entire Netsmart community of support and connection really makes this [myUnity] such a valuable asset to really any facility.” - Jane.