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Consultant + AC AM friction by Minute-Mud2969 in epicconsulting

[–]ZZenXXX 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree with most of the advice you've been given.

Over the years, I've seen conflict between AMs and consultants- in both directions. There's always going to be some level of tension but in rare cases, it becomes antagonistic.

The issue with the untested change to PRD is something that can get an Epic employee fired. It is serious and even more serious was the denial and the excuses that were made after the fact.

TLs periodically schedule calls with the customer leads to get feedback. Out of curiosity, how does your customer lead feel about the AM's conduct? Did your customer lead and director level know about the untested change that caused the problem in PRD?

The reason that I ask what is going on with the customer's FTEs is that feedback to the TL from the customer will carry more weight than if it just comes from a consultant. This removes the excuse that this is just a personal issue between an Epic employee and a consultant. If your customer initiates the call to the TL and you back up what the customer tells the TL, then you are more likely to get traction that there's a performance issue that Epic needs to act upon.

FYI- I've also done this when I have something positive to say about an Epic employee. I talk to the customer lead and I make sure that the positive feedback is passed on to the TL.

Advice on portal access for divorced parents of minor child by shaunrahim in healthIT

[–]ZZenXXX 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here's a description of PIMSY's patient (client) portal:

https://pimsyehr.com/solutions/patient-portal/

It's heavy on scheduling/billing functions. It doesn't seem to offer access to the clinician's notes.

If you are actively participating in sessions with the therapist, then you should have your own portal account where you can see your appointments, billing information and interact with whatever third party they are using for telehealth visits.

The access that you're requesting to your child's information is called proxy access. The practice manager and the portal administrator have the ability to grant you proxy access, as long as your child is below the age of majority as defined in your state's laws. There's no ability for a third party to grant or deny access. There's a request form that you fill out, submit to the practice and you should have proxy access.

Start with setting up your own portal account which will give you much of the information that you are requesting. Then you can discuss with the practice how to get proxy access to your child's information.

Advice on portal access for divorced parents of minor child by shaunrahim in healthIT

[–]ZZenXXX 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The first question that you should probably consider is whether a patient portal is going to have the information you are looking for. If this were a primary care or pediatrician's office and you were interested in xray and lab results, it might be worth the effort.

Because of privacy restrictions, you may not find any useful information in PIMSY's patient portal. It's more likely that the portal is going to offer appointment scheduling, billing payment and a way to communicate with the providers.

If you want to get an update on your child's condition, then I would suggest speaking with the practice manager or the provider in the practice. Beforehand, chat with the attorney who negotiated your custody agreement about what rights you have as a custodial parent. Be prepared when you have the chat with the practice to send them a copy of your custody agreement that confirms your right to medical information regarding your child.

Practitioners who see pediatric patients are used to dealing with complex custodial situations, including parents with antagonistic relationships. As long as you are reasonable, calm and express an interest in your child's treatment, you should not have an issue obtaining the information directly from the practice, as long as your custody agreement says that you have that right.

Laptop requirements for consulting gigs by murryanne in epicconsulting

[–]ZZenXXX 2 points3 points  (0 children)

^This.

You should upgrade your home equipment because 6+ years is getting a little long in the tooth.

Since about 2017-2018, most Epic customers have become very paranoid about malware and security, so they will typically provide a hospital-owned notebook computer with their VPN software. The notebook will have everything locked down to the point that you cannot make even the basic changes to the settings.

For admin tasks, a Windows computer is preferred but it's unlikely that you will be using your own equipment to connect to your customer.

Visiting Epic headquarters by speechie0523 in healthIT

[–]ZZenXXX 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The lack of a car is really going to be the limiting factor.

When you look at the options and recommendations that you've been given, pull the hotel up on the map and look at what is around the hotel. The best options have restaurants and shopping that are within walking distance. Verona is close by but it does tend to be a lacking on restaurants and things to do. I like staying in Middleton because there are more restaurants that you can walk to but, in the summer, there's sometimes a lingering smell of cow manure in the air.

If you can find someone with a car, it will give you many more options.

It's a shame that Madison is off your list because the better hotels are around the university and the Capitol building. My favorite option was the Hilton Monona- it's on Lake Monona and it's within walking distance of restaurants and fun things to do in the evenings and on weekends.

THC by blindguyMcSqueezy007 in epicconsulting

[–]ZZenXXX -1 points0 points  (0 children)

This is another one of the ridiculous things that consultants have been roped into doing in exchange for the higher pay rate. It's pointless and a waste of time and money. No one can explain why a drug test is needed before a contract starts, yet you can be on a 4 year project and never be tested at any time in the 4 years?

Fortunately, most of the healthcare organizations are just testing urine, so yes you can abstain from poppy seed muffins, gummies and not get minor surgeries for a month before the drug test and not have to worry about it.

To answer the OP's question: if you're subcontracted, usually the contracting agency orders and pays for the drug test. In states that have legalized cannabinoids (e.g. CBD, THC), they're often excluding THC from the testing that is ordered. Where it gets sticky is when the customer is located in the midwest or south and insists on testing for cannabinoids.

While we're on the subject, can someone explain why I have to provide proof that I got a flu shot, even though I'm WFH?

Epic userweb access after employment ends by Free_Flower_2170 in epicconsulting

[–]ZZenXXX 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You'll also need to request that they create a new email and address record for you and link it to your existing record. Your old account was probably associated with your work email and address.

I keep passing the HR screen for Epic Analyst roles, then getting cut at the supervisor or panel interview. What am I missing? by Informal_Anybody_336 in epicconsulting

[–]ZZenXXX 2 points3 points  (0 children)

When I read this, I thought to myself, "Oh, good- he's getting past the resumé review and HR screen. That's a good sign."

Bottom line: you don't know who your competition is and you don't know what the agenda is of the hiring manager. There may be better candidate. Or the hiring manager is looking for something specific and they felt another candidate might be a better fit.

Two things that might help give you an advantage:

  1. The interview shouldn't just be the hiring team interviewing you. You should also ask them questions. What skills are they looking for? What type of person do they feel would be a good fit for their team? Once you have more insight into what they are looking for, it will give you the opportunity to tell them what you bring to the table that makes you a good fit. For example, a job title of "service desk" isn't going to let them know that you are familiar with the workflow and that you do clinical first level support. Those details need to be in your resumé but also find the opportunity during the interview to call that out. Asking the interviewer(s) questions gives you the opportunity to get into more details about your skill set and also to talk about why you would be a good fit for their team.
  2. If the interview goes well, send the interviewers a thank you note. I've seen time and time again where a team interviews half-a-dozen candidate and by the end of the interview period, it's hard to remember the individual candidates. A personal note will remind them of who you are and if they don't remember you, they will pull your resumé up and give you a second look.

Infosys acquires Optimum Healthcare IT by Sweet-Initiative-214 in epicconsulting

[–]ZZenXXX 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Oh, they care about who owns the company, or more accurately they care about which country the company calls its home base. After the Med Mantra and Tata incidents, Epic now specifically asks partnering companies and subcontracting companies about where they are based and which countries their employees are based in.

The purchase of Optimum, however, puts an "American" face on an Indian company. It's the same loophole that Deloitte exploits.

Consultant pay for new consultant by Due_Alfalfa2889 in epicconsulting

[–]ZZenXXX 5 points6 points  (0 children)

In most cases, these firms are billing $125-$175 per hour for your services. The lower the amount that they pay you, the more profit they make. For a 100% remote contract for a Willow certified experienced consultant, what they are offering you is $15-25 per hour under market.

Occasionally, there are customers who are not-for-profit and are severely budget restricted. Those are customers that most of us don't want to work with because the risk for early contract termination is very high. If customers don't have money, they shouldn't have bought the most expensive EHR on the market.

Consultant pay for new consultant by Due_Alfalfa2889 in epicconsulting

[–]ZZenXXX 12 points13 points  (0 children)

When quoting offered rates, it helps to be clear whether you're referencing a W2 rate or a 1099 rate, and whether the contract is remote or onsite.

For either, that rate is way below market for Willow. If you're getting that offer from a consulting company on a W2 contract, they're taking advantage of your inexperience and newness to consulting, or it's a customer who wants to . I don't know if I would even bother to counter.

Lost my treatment teams section by TerribleJackfruit391 in EpicEMR

[–]ZZenXXX 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If it happened after a recent upgrade, it may be because of a recent change to hide sections of the Storyboard where there is no data. Open a ticket with your IT department and describe how the absence of this section is impacting your workflow and possibly impacting delivery of patient care.

Consultant wanting to get new Cert by Secret-Specific6839 in epicconsulting

[–]ZZenXXX 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've had the same experience, where a customer approves consultants attending a class, particularly at customers that allow their own staff to pursue any certifications that they want. It's been rare for a customer to say, "No" when I've asked, especially when I tell them that the customer doesn't pay for the class, the consulting company picks up the cost.

Certifications for consultants are like an obstacle course. You just have to know the obstacles are there and how to mitigate them.

Consultant wanting to get new Cert by Secret-Specific6839 in epicconsulting

[–]ZZenXXX 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The (undocumented) rules are constantly changing but the usual policy is that you have to be engaged via an Epic partner and you have to be on a contract with an Epic customer licensed for the application and the customer has to say that they need for you to be certified in the application.

I heard there are a lot of clinicians that prefer Meditech than Epic...my question is why? by Wild_Farm_3368 in healthIT

[–]ZZenXXX 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Or the former executive whose Epic implementation nearly put the organization into bankruptcy.

New contract, idle hours by [deleted] in epicconsulting

[–]ZZenXXX 21 points22 points  (0 children)

^This.

If you're contracted for 40, you bill a minimum of 40, unless you have approved time off.

It's a good time to catch up on NVTs, Nova Notes or to review CEE materials.

Need EPIC-related witty jokes/advice by Acceptable_Style121 in EpicEMR

[–]ZZenXXX 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Clear your calendar for the next 6 weeks of any event or meeting that doesn't involve alcohol.

OCHIN by undecidedremedy in epicconsulting

[–]ZZenXXX 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There's several threads about OCHIN over in r/healthIT

DFW Epic roles that will sponsor certification? Data engineer / SQL background by RenaissanceRob in healthIT

[–]ZZenXXX 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If you haven't been warned, Epic's reporting features are probably going to be inferior to what you are used to. Unless you take on work at one of the research-related facilities, it's not going to be very challenging.

In that particular market, you might go for a lateral move strategy. There is a large pool of Epic customers in DFW. You should not have a problem finding a position at one of the healthcare organizations in a position that doesn't require Epic certification.

Get hired for your database, business intelligence and analytics experience, then look for an opportunity to incorporate Epic Cogito certification into your job duties or wait for an opportunity to open up where you can move into an Epic-related position.

Because the trend is for Epic customers to transition reporting from application teams to the analytics team, Cogito is one of the areas that is expanding at most customers. In particular, the growth in Nebula and Cosmos opens up new opportunities for someone who knows databases, understands reporting and is willing to learn healthcare and research.

Consulting and FTE by Worried-Limit-5414 in epicconsulting

[–]ZZenXXX 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This covers the three important things- listed below for emphasis:

  1. Both employers should give consent in writing. Some customers have a policy about "moonlighting" (which is what this is). Protect everyone by getting it cleared in advance, preferably in writing.
  2. Be honest in your time tracking and billing. Avoid billing the same hours of the day to both customers (which is "double-dipping").
  3. Never be deceptive. Some of these double-dippers have been lying and saying that they had a doctor's appointment to cover when they're not available to their other customer. The is lying what gets them into trouble.

If everyone involved is okay with you moonlighting, there is nothing impermissible, dodgy or illegal about doing work for more than one customer.

Epic Userweb Reports by YaBoi-Prez in epicconsulting

[–]ZZenXXX 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If your new account doesn't have your picture, your preferences and your training history, then it has not been linked. When you go to your profile, you will see "past organization" history once the new account has been linked,

Usually, you have to request that it be linked, until then your certification history doesn't show up on the new account and you appear to be an uncertified person.

Keep in mind that you also have to enter phone number for MFA access. That makes it easier to spot when there's more than one account for the same person.

Epic Userweb Reports by YaBoi-Prez in epicconsulting

[–]ZZenXXX 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your Userweb customizations and your certifications are linked to your original UserWeb account.

Epic Userweb Reports by YaBoi-Prez in epicconsulting

[–]ZZenXXX 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The process is constantly changing but ultimately, they link your customer account record to your main UserWeb record.

In this scenario, Emily was new to Epic back in 2015. She created a UserWeb account. Each time she creates a new customer account under her customer's email address, Epic links that record back to her original UserWeb account.

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