California Medi-Cal behavioral health runs through county systems that were built to administer benefits, not to run a treatment facility. Navix is the clinical source of truth your team works in every day, designed to produce the documentation and claim files those county systems require, so you stop entering the same client twice.
Last verified: August 19, 2026Some county programs formally let providers keep their own EHR and submit claim files to the county system. LA County SAPC's Sage is the clearest example, with a defined Secondary User path. Here the position is direct: operate on Navix, file to the county.
For LA County DMH (ProviderConnect NX), Orange County (IRIS), and San Diego (SmartCare), the county system is required for admissions, authorizations, and claims. Facilities still need real clinical documentation, group notes, bed boards, CRM, and billing for their commercial and cash census. The goal is one clinical source of truth and county-ready outputs, not replacing the county system.
Outside the mandated-county-EHR model, states like Colorado, Minnesota, and Michigan run their own reporting stacks and multi-payer rules. The work is compliance-ready documentation and claims that align with those systems and the 2025 to 2026 reforms reshaping each state.
Los Angeles, SUD side. SAPC runs the Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System and requires contracted providers to use Sage, either as Primary Users where Sage is the EHR, or as Secondary Users who run their own EHR and submit 837P/837I claim files.
Los Angeles, mental health side. LACDMH uses ProviderConnect NX as the mandatory web interface for contracted Legal Entity providers, with write-through to the county record for admissions, eligibility, diagnosis, and authorizations.
Orange and San Diego. Orange County uses IRIS for county and contract programs. San Diego SUD providers report through SmartCare, which replaced SanWITS in September 2024, and dual-enter required data such as CalOMS Tx even when they use their own EHR.
Clinicians document once in Navix. Navix is designed to structure that documentation and the resulting claim files to match what each county program expects, so your team keeps a single source of truth instead of re-keying every client into a county portal.
Navix does not replace the county's own system of record. What it adds is a single clinical source of truth and, through CollaborateMD, its deeply integrated revenue cycle management partner, processing of your county claims, so you reduce double entry, keep documentation audit-ready, and get claims worked rather than just filed. Every county-specific workflow is confirmed against the county's own materials before we publish it.
The Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System is California's Medicaid model for substance use disorder treatment. Participating counties administer it as prepaid inpatient health plans, organizing care around ASAM levels and controlling access, authorization, and claims. Specialty Mental Health Services run on a parallel county-administered track. See dhcs.ca.gov.
In most participating counties, yes, for county Medi-Cal admissions, authorizations, and claims. The specific system depends on the county and whether you are on the SUD or mental health side. Los Angeles uses Sage for SUD and ProviderConnect NX for mental health, Orange County uses IRIS, and San Diego uses SmartCare (which replaced SanWITS in 2024).
It depends on the county and program. LA County SAPC formally supports a Sage Secondary User model where a provider runs its own EHR and submits 837P/837I claim files to Sage. Other county programs require entering data directly into the county portal. Navix is designed for both patterns: keeping one clinical record and producing the county-ready outputs each program expects.
CalAIM moved county behavioral health from cost reimbursement toward fee-for-service with CPT and HCPCS coding, and its documentation reform replaced treatment plans with Problem Lists for most DMC-ODS services and streamlined progress-note standards. Verify current specifics on dhcs.ca.gov before relying on any dated detail.
Navix serves behavioral health facilities statewide. Deep, county-specific pages are published as each county's system requirements are verified against primary sources. Talk to the team about your county and payer mix and we will walk your specific workflow.
Tell us your county and payer mix. We will walk the exact documentation and billing path your facility runs, from intake to the county submission.
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