I had been Director at Jefferson for 6 months or so when I was introduced to Dr. C., the chair of ENT department. Surgeon’s weren’t the primary end-user my team supported, maybe 5%, but that 5% mattered a lot so I had been looking for an opportunity to build a relationship and overhaul some workflows that were poorly followed.
Dr. C was one of those disgruntled users that I love, because he’s a tinkerer so he knew exactly what he wanted and just hadn’t had a channel to convey it through. I was asked to use my experience as a technical Epic consultant, and my acumen as a leader, to “bring him into the fold” and see if we could deliver a satisfying solution.
I sat in Dr. C’s office for a few hours and listened carefully. What he wanted didn’t entirely align with “enterprise” strategy, but I thought we could find a way to make it work. I went back to my office and drew up some drafts of workflow exceptions that I was willing to have my team support, and that might satisfy Dr. C. Over several weekly visits, I’d show him my progress and he’d offer feedback. I’ll never forget the breakthrough moment I demonstrated the first draft that really delivered on his vision, and his trademark smirk broke into an authentic smile. Dr. Cpiloted the new billing workflow for a few weeks, then we distributed to the rest of his department.
I followed up with some reporting tools and was delighted to discover that not only did we reduce charge lag, but made the hospital and extra $2 million annually due to reduced denials due to insurance authorization issues. We’re currently in the process of rolling out the enhanced workflow to a larger group of ideal candidates. I’m also thrilled that Dr. C has become a consistent ally in hospital politics, and he routinely refers other disgruntled providers to me as “the most knowledgeable Epic person he’s ever met”, which is enormously gratifying.