"We have 17 providers, but only four phone operators, all because of our patient portal," says Clay Barnett, director of internal programs at Birmingham Internal Medicine Associates (BIMA). This tech allowed them to add four physicians in the last two years without the expense of hiring any additional phone support.

The days of stealing personal information for credit cards no longer holds the greatest appeal for hackers of medical facilities. "Credit card companies stand behind their clients," says Russ Dorsey, manager of information services at Kassouf & Co. Purchases are rapidly questioned, cards are voided, and card holders rarely get dinged.

Improved efficiency and communication are at the heart of blockchain technology, offering great promise for the healthcare industry to realize improved outcomes in both a business and clinical setting.

Girders, cranes, and concrete are a familiar sight around UAB, especially now with three new construction projects underway on the medical side alone.

There are many questions to consider when determining where to locate or move a practice.

If you are wandering the halls of the University of South Alabama's School of Medicine, hear music and someone counting to the beat, it's probably Dr. Fun and her colleagues.

If you ask a healthcare provider to state the healthcare laws and regulations that give them a headache, you are likely to receive a range of responses.

We recently reported that Michael Granston, Director of the Civil Fraud Section of the Department of Justice (DOJ), made comments during a November 2017 healthcare compliance conference suggesting that in cases where the DOJ has determined allegations in a qui tam (or "whistleblower") lawsuit lack merit, the government may more aggressively exercise its statutory authority - rarely used in the past - to dismiss such cases.

The battle over 340B continues as hospitals serving some of the nation's most vulnerable patients worry what will happen if $1.6 billion in cuts go through.

Physician-scientists from UAB using big-data recently summarized in the Journal of the American Heart Association the prevalence of cardiovascular manifestations, rates of defibrillator placement (ICD) and predictors of in-hospital mortality in sarcoidosis -- a disorder that affects multiple organs.

Adults who are 45 years old or older and who consume large amounts of sugary beverages, including soft drinks, fruit drinks and fruit juices, may have a higher risk of dying from heart disease or other causes, compared to those who drink fewer sugary drinks, according to new research.

A study by researchers at the UAB School of Health Professions published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, the official journal of the American College of Sports Medicine, connects aerobic physical activity -- like walking -- to better sleep for post-primary treatment breast cancer survivors.

There is growing evidence showing a connection between Parkinson's disease and the composition of the microbiome of the gut.

Looking forward to living longer is one of the great things about life in the age of modern medicine. However, most of us probably hope to look younger longer too.

Providers wouldn't wait to intervene with breast cancer until it had become metastatic. Yet, delayed reaction is too often the case when it comes to suicide prevention efforts.

Celebrity suicides by people who seemed to have everything have reminded us that depression and suicidal impulses can be as lethal as any physical disease.

It's an exciting time in orthopaedic surgery and total joint replacement surgery is considered one of the most successful and rewarding procedures performed.

A love of physics influenced Chris Heck, MD when choosing his medical specialty.

More than 1,000 people seeking low-cost mental health services have been served by the UAB Community Counseling Clinic since its creation in 2011.

Jayme Locke, MD, director of the UAB Incompatible Kidney Transplant Program, has been awarded the Distinguished Investigator Award for Translation into Public Benefit and Policy.

Herbert Walker, Jr., MD and his Cahaba Heights practice recently joined the St. Vincent's Primary Care network of locations in the greater Birmingham area.

Ed Hutchins, an analyst who works in Information Technology at the DCH Health System, has been named a recipient of the DCH Excellence Award.

Walker Baptist Medical Center has received the American Heart Association's Get With The Guidelines®-Heart Failure Gold Quality Achievement Award.

Alaina Odom, CRNP has joined Southeast Gastro where she will practice collaboratively with Bradley Rubery, MD. She will care for patients at the Southeast Gastro Grandview and Alabaster clinics.

Hernando Carter, MD, assistant professor of internal medicine at UAB, will serve on the Medical Association of the State of Alabama's board. Carter was elected as an at-large member.

St. Vincent's Birmingham is the only hospital in the state and one of only two hospitals in the country to offer multiple Mazor Renaissance Robots for minimally invasive spinal surgery.

The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the UAB School of Medicine has opened a new sports medicine clinic at UAB Highlands Hospital targeted at college-age and older athletes.

Douglas Brewer has been named the new chief executive officer of Bryan W. Whitfield Memorial Hospital (BWWMH). He joins BWWMH from Citizens Baptist Medical Center in Talladega.

Lisa Willett, MD, director of the Tinsley Harrison Internal Medicine Residency Program and vice chair for Education in the Department of Medicine, was elected president-elect of the Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine (APDIM).

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama has promoted several executives.

Barton S. Wood, MD of Advanced Surgeons recently spoke to a gathering at the Greystone YMCA, where he discussed hernia surgery.