UAB Medicine Develops a Mobile Application with Clear Business Benefits

by Mark S. Gothberg

Hospitals have de­veloped all kinds of mobile applications, from those featuring a medical encyclo­pedia to ER wait times to health tracking. But a unique application has been launched by the marketing team at UAB Medicine, also known as the University of Alabama at Birming­ham Health System. The application supports workers’ compensation claims.

Handling an injury that occurs during daytime work hours is straightforward. A HR representa­tive is readily available to handle all the administrative documentation. The worker is treated at the work­place, UAB Medicine’s Workplace Occupational Health Clinic, or at one of the system’s hospitals. But after hours, the situation becomes complicated, and poor communica­tions can be costly for the employer. “If the hospital is not aware it is a workers’ comp case, if the proper tests are not ordered and the chain of custody of drug and alcohol screens secure, insurance companies will not pay for the claim,” says Adrienne Steading, director of mar­keting and digital strategy at UAB Medicine.

Workers’ comp app icon

When an injury occurs after hours at a company that has a workers’ comp contract with UAB Medicine, the worker’s manager opens the health system’s application on a mobile device or desktop computer, fills out a form with the required informa­tion, which includes the nature of the injury, and emails the document to the emergency department, even as the worker is being transported for care. To ensure compliance with HIPAA, no specific identification of the injured individual is supplied. “When the worker shows up at the emergency room from a company named in the app form, it’s obvious he or she is the workers’ comp case,” says Steading.

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