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UAB Medicine and IKS Health Collaborate to Address Patient Access, Outcomes and Physician Burden
[September 24, 2018]

UAB Medicine and IKS Health Collaborate to Address Patient Access, Outcomes and Physician Burden


While much has been written on the national epidemic of physician burnout, answers to alleviate the situation have stopped short of addressing the overarching needs affecting providers and their patients. Realizing their doctors needed innovative solutions to improve physician workflows, the leadership of UAB Medicine, part of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System, sought a partner that would leverage proven clinical support and practice expertise to alleviate administrative demands on physicians and provide a better patient experience. Today UAB Medicine announces its collaboration with IKS Health, a leading global health care solutions organization.

Through this collaboration, IKS Health will implement its Scribble and Coding services. Scribble, the world's only asynchronous, virtual scribe solution, will be deployed in primary care clinics and piloted in several sub-specialty areas throughout UAB Medicine. Scribble allows more time for physician/patient interaction during clinical visits, frees up the physician schedule for additional patient access and reduces the time spent after hours on electronic health record documentation, giving doctors more time to care for both their patients and themselves.

"The good intent behind meaningful use and the subsequent reporting and regulatory requirements have had negative impact on the doctor's ability to connect with the patient during the course of the visit," says Dr. Keith A. Jones, Chief Physician Executive-UAB Medicine. "Our organization's mission is to improve the health and well-being of society, particularly the citizens of Alabama, by providing innovative health services of exceptional value that are patient- and family-centered. This collaboration will provide a useful tool that will enable us to do exactly that."

"Patient safety and improved care are of the utmost importance to our organization, to our providers and to our community," says Dr. Stephen Stair, Medical Compliance Officer and Assistant Professor, UAB. "As health care continues to evolve, organizations must evolve in lock step UAB has a long-standing reputation for excellence in care delivery and we believe that this collaboration will further our ability to remain on the cutting edge of care."



"We consider ourselves honored and very fortunate to be collaborating with such a renowned health care institution," says Jim Boswell, Managing Partner and Chief Development Officer of IKS Health. "We know that physician burnout is a serious issue in the United States. At IKS, we believe that burnout is a symptom of the larger challenges facing health care today and that if we're only addressing burnout we're missing the opportunity to truly change health care for the better. With solutions like our Scribble and Coding services, we're bringing proven tools and resources to organizations so that they can return to the core of medicine and patient care while simultaneously improving quality and remaining financially viable."

IKS differs from most health care solution entities in that it does not offer clients a proprietary technological solution; instead, it optimizes value and efficiencies for physician practices that use any EMR system. By integrating its platform into the physician enterprises' existing technology and clinicians' existing workflows, IKS provides better financial and clinical results as well as higher physician engagement and satisfaction. IKS allows practices to maintain their familiar legacy platform but reap improved outcomes across the full spectrum of clinical, operational, and financial functions.


About IKS Health:

IKS Health enables the enhanced delivery of exceptional care for today's practicing physician, medical groups and health systems. Supporting health care providers through every function of the patient visit, IKS is a go-to resource for organizations looking to effectively scale, improve quality and achieve cost savings through integrated technology and forward-thinking solutions. Founded in 2007, the 5,000-member strong workforce at IKS manages more than $10 billion in revenue for more than 10,000 physicians throughout the United States.

About UAB Medicine:

UAB Medicine comprises the School of Medicine and the $4.3 billion UAB Health System that includes all of the University of Alabama at Birmingham's patient-care activities and 2,300 licensed beds in six hospitals, one of which is UAB Hospital - the third-largest public hospital in the United States, winner of the Women's Choice award, and one of U.S. News & World Report's Best Hospitals. UAB is the state of Alabama's largest single employer and an internationally renowned research university and academic health center; its professional schools and specialty patient-care programs are consistently ranked among the nation's top 50. UAB is the largest academic medical center in Alabama and one of the top four largest academic medical centers in the United States. UAB's Center for Clinical and Translational Science is advancing innovative discoveries for better health as a two-time recipient of the prestigious Center for Translational Science Award. Find more information at www.uab.edu and www.uabmedicine.org.

© 2017 IKS Health. All rights reserved.


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