Investment in EHR implementation projects goes beyond just the capital — the IT talent and skills can be an integral part of a successful go-live.
A new eBook from Healthcare IT Leaders, a healthcare technology consulting and staffing firm, draws on its experience with Epic go-lives to offer a guide for healthcare organizations building an implementation team.
The eBook, called "Building an Epic Team: An Insider's Guide to Recruiting, Hiring and Retaining Epic-Skilled IT Professionals," offers a step-by-step guide to successfully recruit and hire a team to achieve organizational success.
"With Epic at the center of your patient care strategy, you will want to hire the best and brightest Epic-skilled talent you can find. But here's the problem: So does every other hospital in the country with an Epic EHR," writes Bob Bailey, managing principal of Healthcare IT Leaders, in the eBook.
Here are eight key tips and takeaways from the eBook on developing a hiring strategy for Epic talent.
1. Develop a hiring team and a plan. Approaching a recruiting process should mirror the EHR selection process itself. "The rapid hiring of an Epic team is a major project that should have executive sponsors, a senior leadership team to make key decisions and a detailed project plan complete with milestones and deadlines," according to the eBook.
2. Build an organizational chart. Define each position an organization plans to hire and indicate which roles are a priority for initiating the project.
3. Promote from within. In-house IT workers may be the best candidates for the positions, and many will view the implementation as a chance to further their careers.
4. Publicly announce the Epic project. The eBook suggests being upfront about an Epic implementation project, and broadcasting the news may help pique the interest of IT talent and be advantageous in recruiting efforts.
5. Use contractors. Contractors bring with them knowledge and expertise from working on other Epic go-lives, along with other benefits.
6. Set salary bands and pay rates. With multiple organizations seeking Epic talent, hospitals and health systems should create outlines of salary ranges and pay rates, but also should be flexible with them. Additional financial incentives can help recruit talent, especially in more competitive regions.
7. Be efficient in the recruiting process. "When building any large team, and in particular an Epic team, the keyword for success is 'efficiency,'" according to the eBook, which suggests finding ways to maximize efficiency in all steps of the recruiting process, from prescreening to the final job offer.
8. Focus on retention. "Now that you've found, built and trained your Epic team, keep them. Your best and brightest will be bombarded with job offers daily, so you have a vested interest in keeping them happy and engaged for the long haul," according to the eBook.
To access a copy of the eBook, click here.
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