Netsmart-grade workflow without the Netsmart-grade implementation bill.
Netsmart myAvatar, myUnity, and CareFabric are powerful enterprise platforms. They're also expensive to implement ($20-80k), slow to change (6-12 monthsto go-live), and priced per seat in a way that punishes growth. Mid-market BH and HHC agencies are paying for enterprise overhead they don't need.
AgenciesForge is AI-native, capacity-tiered, and self-service — most agencies are live in a week.
Where Netsmart drags, AgenciesForge moves
| Capability | Netsmart (myAvatar/myUnity) | AgenciesForge |
|---|---|---|
| Implementation timeline | 6-12 months | Under a week · self-service |
| Implementation cost | $20k-$80k | $0 · included |
| Pricing model | Per-seat, multi-year contract | Capacity-tiered · month-to-month or annual |
| BH charting (SOAP/BIRP/DAP/GIRP) | Yes (configurable) | Yes · 4 narrative formats · AI dictation |
| HHC OASIS-E + PDGM + 485 | Yes (CareFabric tier) | Yes · with LUPA proximity alerts |
| EVV (multi-aggregator) | Yes | Yes · GPS + Sandata/HHAeX/state-direct |
| Stedi 837P / 837I / 270 / 271 / 835 | Their own clearinghouse | Bundled · managed Stedi (9,800+ payers) |
| AI claim pre-submit audit (15 checks) | Static rule engine | LLM-based · catches edge cases |
| AI denial appeal drafting | Not built in | Payer-specific letter templates |
| AI session-note drafting from voice | Limited (add-on) | AI Forge · 23 AI tools |
| CARF/COA/TJC audit bundle | Manual + consulting | One-click ZIP |
| WENO ePrescribing (EPCS + PDMP) | Integrated (add-on) | Integrated · included |
| Telehealth (HIPAA-compliant) | Bring-your-own | Self-hosted LiveKit included |
| Inbound fax routing + AI classification | Bring-your-own | iFax bundled + AI auto-route |
| State-specific certification workflow | None | 51-state guided certification |
What Netsmart does that we don't (yet)
True enterprise scale:Health-system deployments (1,000+ clinicians, multi-hospital integration, HL7 v2 messaging at hospital scale) are Netsmart's home turf. We're built for 1-150 clinician agencies. If you're a regional health system, Netsmart probably remains the right call.
State + county direct contracts:Netsmart has decades of state and county BH-authority contracts. If your agency has a state-contract requirement that names Netsmart specifically, that's a procurement reality you can't engineer around.
Inpatient / residential bed management: Netsmart has dedicated inpatient bed-management workflows (CRTSs, PHPs, residential). Our residential program support is solid for outpatient + IOP + community waivers but lighter for inpatient ADT.
How mid-market agencies typically migrate
- Export patient + provider + payer + history CSVs from Netsmart (may take a customer-success ticket — plan a week of lead time).
- Import into AgenciesForge → Patients → CSV import. Bulk patient + insurance + provider land in under an hour.
- Run parallel for two weeks: clinicians chart in AgenciesForge, you reconcile claim outcomes side-by-side with the last Netsmart submissions.
- Cut billing on the next pay-period boundary. Stedi takes over claim submission.
- Negotiate the Netsmart contract exit — most are annual, so plan the migration to land 60+ days before your renewal date.
Common questions
Is AgenciesForge really an enterprise-grade alternative to Netsmart?
Honest answer: it depends on enterprise scale. We are the right call for agencies up to ~150 clinicians, multi-state, complex payer mix. Above that — true health-system scale (1,000+ clinicians, multi-million-record archive, integrated hospital workflow) — Netsmart's incumbent position is hard to displace and we won't pretend otherwise. For the mid-market that Netsmart treats as a tier-2 customer, AgenciesForge is a real upgrade.
What about implementation cost?
Netsmart implementations run $20k-$80k depending on tier and customization. Six to twelve months from contract to go-live. AgenciesForge is self-service — most agencies are up and charting in under a week with no implementation fee. Migration assistance (CSV import, payer enrollment guidance) is included.
Does AgenciesForge handle the same payer mix as Netsmart?
Yes. Stedi clearinghouse covers 9,800+ payers including all 50 state Medicaid programs, all major commercial insurers, Tricare, VA, Medicare. We submit 837P, 837I (institutional, for HHC), eligibility (270/271), ERA (835). The clearinghouse coverage is parity; the difference is the AI claim audit catches denials Netsmart's static-rule engine misses.
Can we migrate off myAvatar / myUnity?
Yes. Netsmart exports as CSV (slow but possible — sometimes requires a customer-success ticket). We accept those CSVs into our import flow. Plan ~2 weeks for a clean migration on a typical 40-clinician agency: 1 week of parallel running, 1 week of cleanup. Active claims usually finish out on Netsmart; new claims move to Stedi.
What about CARF/COA/TJC accreditation surveys?
Audit-bundle generation is built in. One click produces a survey-ready ZIP with policies, training logs, credentialing files, sample notes, and Compliance program documentation in the format CARF and COA surveyors expect. Netsmart can do this but it usually requires their consulting services or a multi-day pull-together. Ours is a button.
See your Netsmart workflow in AgenciesForge
Book a 30-minute walkthrough. Bring a redacted claim, a sample note, and your top denial reason — we'll show you the AI audit catching it pre-submit, the appeal draft writing itself, and the audit bundle generating in one click. If the value isn't obvious in 30 minutes, we'll say so.