Hi,
My hospital is transiting to EPIC. Currently they have IT system willow analyst positions posted. I am a nurse and I was told they are looking to hire nurses as well as other professions such as PharmD and other allied health professionals.
What would my job be like in terms of being a nurse in this position?
Thanks,
Rachel
Hi Rachel!
I know nurses can work as Epic analysts for sure, including Epic Willow. It’s not common for nurses to be certified in the Willow module because it is very heavily focused on pharmacy workflows and extensive knowledge of medications, drug classes, therapeutic classes, etc.
That’s not to say that as a nurse you don’t have or can’t gain that knowledge, but the pharmacists’ and in some cases, pharmacy technicians’ backgrounds in pharmacy workflows and medication knowledge gives them a leg up in that area when it comes to the day-to-day work.
What Will The Job Be Like?
It really depends on what stage of the Epic implementation your organization is in. If it’s in the beginning stages of transitioning, then there will be a lot of drug dictionary building and creation of order sets, etc.
If your organization is in the maintenance phase by the time you join the team then you’re looking more at spending your days troubleshooting problems and issues that arise from/with end-users in the pharmacy i.e. the pharmacy staff. This could be anything from adding new medications to the drug list (new drugs are getting approved almost daily it seems like), insurance and billing issues (billing issues can be a biggie if things aren’t set up correctly from the beginning), dealing with handling drug shortages with the Epic system, etc.
Everyday could literally be completely different, and that’s the joy of being an Epic Analyst.
I hope that helps to shed some light on things for you. Hopefully you’ll get picked to be a part of the team and start your Epic journey! š