Client Story
Prioritizing client satisfaction: UAB Huntsville thrives with help from Altera Managed Services
As a component of the University of Alabama Health System, University of Alabama Birmingham Huntsville Regional Medical Campus (UAB Huntsville) serves as a premier facility for outpatient services in northern Alabama. Ranking among the nation's leading academic medical institutions, UAB Huntsville is known for excellence in patient care, research, and training.
Managed Services at UAB Huntsville
In 2019, UAB Huntsville entered a five-year partnership with Altera Managed Services. This collaboration aimed to enhance the organization's technological infrastructure and drive its operational efficiency. Leveraging Altera Managed Services expertise in the TouchWorks EHR solution, UAB Huntsville began work on modernizing the system, improving cybersecurity measures, and streamlining administrative functions. Overall, this strategic partnership represented a strategic investment for the group, highlighting its commitment to embracing the latest tools and technology.
According to Murtuza Devra, Altera Managed Services Project Manager, the collaboration between Altera Managed Services and UAB Huntsville is all about making sure that the organization is successful. "Client satisfaction is our top priority and this especially holds true for our UAB Huntsville account. We are dedicated to promptly addressing and resolving any issues they may encounter and providing quick assistance to ensure our client's happiness," said Devra.
100% of charges in Family Medicine Center accurately captured since addition of new process
Significant time savings by eliminating need for charge documentation via paper
Revenue no longer lost due to inconsistencies in charge documentation
Restructuring the hospital inpatient charge capture system
An issue providers at UAB Huntsville were facing was the lack of an electronic process for hospital inpatient charge capture. They were reliant on an outdated paper-based system called a "yellow hospital card", which led to numerous inefficiencies, including misplaced charges that resulted in noticeable revenue loss. The business office was tasked with going through every hospital card and interpreting the information as best as they could. The organization realized it might be able to improve its hospital charge capture process by taking advantage of the service list feature in TouchWorks EHR. To make the service list everything it needed to be, EMR system analysts needed guidance on how it worked and what exactly they could do with it.
As work with Altera Managed Services began to take shape, a solution quickly became apparent. Jennifer Childress, Applications Analyst at UAB Huntsville, said that Managed Services helped the team figure out exactly what needed to be done to optimize the existing feature. "The Managed Services team was amazing. They sat on numerous calls and Webex's with me while I expressed exactly what we needed the service list feature to do for our clinicians and business office. They would come back with advice, solutions, and workarounds until we finally had a fully functional service list feature. I felt like they truly listened to me and what our end goal was," Childress said.
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UAB Huntsville now has a hospital charge capture system that aligns with modern best practices. The service list feature is seen as an invaluable tool designed to significantly streamline the patient charge workflow. One of its most impactful features is its capability to carry forward information from one patient encounter to the next, recognizing the recurring needs specific to a hospital environment. The service list has eliminated the need for manual communication and charge entry, thereby simplifying charge capture in a major way. Instead of jotting down details on a piece of paper and taking extra steps to communicate with the business office, clinicians can systematically input their hospital charges directly into Touchworks. Daily tasks within the system additionally ensure that providers don't miss any charges. This digital approach saves time and increases the accuracy of financial transactions within the organization.
The new process not only enhances operational efficiency but also significantly reduces the risk of revenue loss due to charge inaccuracies. The new charge documentation process has been fully functional at UAB Huntsville's Family Medicine Center for several months now and 100% of all hospital charges have been accurately captured and has now been implemented in their additional Internal Medicine and Family Medicine clinics. The success of this project underscores the value of a responsive and client-focused approach by Managed Services.
"We needed someone who would dig a little deeper into our concerns, and that is exactly what Managed Services did and continues to do for us," said Emily Leviner, Systems Analyst at UAB Huntsville.
Managed Services provides a helping hand to UAB Huntsville
The team at UAB Huntsville is confident that its relationship with Altera Managed Services will continue to climb to new heights in the coming years.
"From when we first started working with Managed Services to now, our relationship has evolved and grown, and we see them as our helping hands. They are the people who complete the gaps for us, have the expertise, the willingness to help, and they listen to us. They have helped us accomplish more in three years than we had in the five years prior," Leviner said.
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