Meet Katie Grubbs of SuperScribe

Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Grubbs.

Katie, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
SuperScribe opened its doors in May of 2010. Prior to that, I spent three years as a middle school chorus and general music teacher in Maryland. When I moved back to Georgia (which had been home since third grade) I decided to venture into the business world. I worked in sales and branch management for a local staffing company for another three years. During that time my father, who is an emergency department physician, came to me with the scribe concept hoping it was something that could be done through the staffing company. The liabilities associated with the medical field were too much for them to be willing to take on. With the turn in the economy and staffing needs down I was considering next steps, one of which being something in the medical field. After some research, I opened the company with my father as my first client.

In our seven years of operation, we have grown to eight emergency departments, ten clinics, over 125 employees and over 150 clients.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As with anything in life, there have been ups and downs. Growth requires the right staff in place to ensure current contracts aren’t neglected. But putting that staff in place before the funding from growth starts can be hard! The scribe business is also one of high employee turn-over. Our employees are typically pre-med, pre-PA or nursing students who are working as a scribe to gain experience in the medical field. Once they are accepted into the next level of schooling they move on. The average “lifespan” of a scribe is between 9 and 18 months. The summer months in particular are a high turn over time. This summer alone (2017) we turned over 1/3 of the company. The vast majority of these employees got accepted into medical or PA school. It’s bittersweet as we are always so proud of them but also have to start the process of replacing them.

Please tell us about SuperScribe.
SuperScribe, LLC was created to bring the fast-growing scribe concept to the Atlanta area. Emergency departments and physician offices around the US have adopted scribe programs to improve patient satisfaction, quality of care and profitability while eliminating the burden of charting for physicians. Scribes serve as personal clerical assistants to a physician throughout his or her shift. Their primary responsibility is to thoroughly and accurately document patients’ medical records. Scribes accompany their assigned physician into each patient room to record the medical history and physical exam findings. After leaving the room it is the scribes’ responsibility to track and document all laboratory and radiology studies, then notify the physician of the completed results. Additionally, they research pertinent past medical records, record medications given, procedures and interventions, responses to therapy, and physician consultations. In addition to charting scribes can grab needed supplies, track down missing information, pull up x-rays, pass on messages and do anything else clerical that will help the physician have an easier shift.

I think the biggest difference between SuperScribe and other scribe companies is owner involvement. I am actively involved in each of our contracts. I make an effort to meet every client and every employee. Their happiness with the service and/or job is important to me. I believe you have to treat your employees right so that they will, in turn, work hard for your clients. I’m also in a unique position as I was the first scribe in the company. I know what it is like to actually do the job (and I honestly miss doing it!). We pay our employees a higher hourly wage than most companies do. They work hard and deserve to be compensated for it. You get what you pay for!

I am most proud of how far the company has come in seven years. When I started this, I had very little business background and if I’m being honest, no idea what I was doing. I was flying by the seat of my pants and somehow it worked. If you had asked me in 2010 where I would be in 2017 I probably would have said I was hoping for a couple of contracts and 50 employees. When we hit 100 employees and the realization that we were no longer a “small business” hit me I was proud!

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
One of my favorite things from growing up was our family vacation every summer. It’s something we still do to this day. My brother and I were lucky enough to get to travel to a variety of places through the years. We have been all over the US, Canada, the Caribbean, Europe, Iceland and Norway. I remember when I was younger visiting unique places like The Corn Palace in South Dakota as well as the major landmarks like Yosemite and The Grand Canyon. As we aged and became able to appreciate more we started exploring outside of the country. I was lucky to experience a lot of different places before graduating high school and it definitely instilled a love of travel for me.

The fact that we still work to travel to new places together is something I don’t think many have. The dynamic is of course different now that we are adults but we have such a good time together. This past summer we went to Italy and are already starting discussions on our adventure for next summer.

Contact Info:

• Address: 5300 Oakbrook Parkway,
  Bldg 300; Suite 395
  Norcross, GA 30093
• Website: www.SuperScribeLLC.com
• Phone: 770-545-8815
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/superscribellc
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/SuperScribeLLC

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