Healthcare IS Blog

There’s an evolution to an employee’s mindset when the economy goes into a state of sudden and massive job loss.

Recently, I’ve heard some thought leaders address how the most efficient and effective people on their teams can produce at a rate 10 times that of their average producer.

The healthcare data analytics market has been evolving for some time. But we’ve hit a tipping point: The amount of hiring in these spaces is growing at a faster pace than at any other time in the past decade. And projections are for continued growth.

When making business decisions, specifically those that require a significant financial investment, it’s customary for an organization to determine their return on investment (ROI). Without an idea of the ROI, it’s almost impossible to conclude whether the investment would be a good or bad decision.

This blog post is short and sweet, because I don’t feel that this point takes a lot to get across.

New Year’s is a time when we put goals and resolutions in place. But resolutions tend to fade away and, ultimately, fail. Instead, it’s important to sit down and focus on just a few areas that you’re absolutely committed to improving.

Regardless of who’s available in the job market, your world-class talent-access process should remain consistent. Unfortunately, too many organizations change their methods based on how many candidates are available at a particular moment in time. Having said that, here’s an example of how changing your process greatly impacts the candidate experience.

Where Will Health IT Be 1 Year From Now? CIO Make Their Predictions.

During a typical hiring process, organizations tend to see things through their own eyes.

You see it all the time: Talent Acquisition Teams. But what does the title actually mean? Are they looking for talent? Or are they looking for years of experience? Talent is defined as a natural aptitude or skill.  But as we know, there are candidates who don’t get the job or even an interview because they don’t have a desired minimum years of experience. Does talent come to fruition only after a certain number of years?

Building a team requires more than just identifying and hiring the right people. Leaders have to integrate those people into their teams, provide ongoing training, and create and maintain an environment that people want to be a part of.

We frequently hear about “employer branding” — that is, a company’s brand as it’s perceived by the outside world. Is it a fun place to work? Does the organization have a social conscience? Are there sufficient opportunities for professional growth?

“This is a very important position — we aren’t simply going to hire the first person we see.”

When we talk about “alignment,” we’re talking about building a long-term, high-performance team, as opposed to filling jobs. In order to effectively build those teams, hiring managers would do well to follow Healthcare IS’ model designed to produce the highest likelihood of employer-candidate fit.

If you’re a career-oriented person, can you afford to work from home?

Your résumé is typically the first impression an organization will have of you when you apply for a job.

Five years ago, an employer would review your résumé and, if they liked what they saw, they would invite you to an interview. However, for many employers today, liking your résumé  is just the first step.

A recent article at Becker's Hospital Review interviewed several Healthcare IT executives to get their opinions on dangerous trends occurring within the Health IT space. Their opinions are listed below.

Within Healthcare IS’ Hire Value methodology, we discuss the importance of completing a market analysis prior to filling a position. 

Identify The Right Talent Before You Need It

Many healthcare IT budgets are being cut due to organizations’ financial circumstances. As a result, leaders are facing major challenges as they attempt to train existing staff. Through conversations with industry leaders, I’ve developed some thoughts regarding an era of training when every dollar is being scrutinized. These concepts are not new, but they can serve as a helpful reminder of the resources that are readily available to most of us.

Figuring out how to best handle IT concerns can be a daunting challenge, especially for healthcare organizations transitioning to a new Electronic Health Records (EHR) system.

Qualified consultants with extensive experience handling these transitions can provide significant help.

Many concerns and evaluations play into any career changing decision.

Was there a time when you weren't sure if this was for you?

I want to share a conversation I had with a consultant, who, for the sake of this post, we’ll call Bob. Bob asked me for my advice regarding a contract he found on his own.

When looking for work, it’s understandable that you want to make sure your resume is getting in front of the right people and you’re not missing out on any good opportunities. However, when working with a recruiting firm, it’s also important to know to whom your resume is going, as well as for what position you’re applying and/or being considered. 

Anyone who was a contractor or in consulting during the last recession (2008-2009) either had his or her project end early or knows someone who did. When I say end early, I mean end prior to the end date established when the project began.

Once you've been in the consulting field for a reasonable amount of time, you'll be faced with a client that's in a bind and wants you to start immediately.

When you travel to a client location each week and spend 40 hours on-site, the client sees you there; they have no doubt that you put in your hours for the week. Therefore, they have no problem signing off and approving the hours you put on a weekly timesheet. They may have an issue with the quality of your work or whether you accomplished enough during that time, but that’s a different issue.

As a contract consultant, every six to 12 months, on average, you’re going to have to transition off of one contract and start another. From time to time, this can be difficult to manage. The challenge can arise when you have 30 days left on your current contract and a new one-year contract becomes available a week or two before your contract ends. It can be difficult to stay two more weeks at your current engagement, knowing that it will soon be over, and having to pass up on a new contract that can secure your income for the next year. So, how do you handle this situation? What can you do ahead of time to make the transition from your current contract as smooth as possible so that you don’t 1) miss out on the new one-year project and 2) do not leave your current client in a bind?

When you're working independently, understanding the ins and outs of a contract can help save you a headache down the road.

Whenever we look to bring a contractor onto a project on which we’ve never worked before, we have to discuss compensation. Unfortunately, many new contractors are not prepared to have this conversation. Anyone can discuss what he or she wants to make. What I’m talking about is being able to have that discussion in a professional, credible manner.

What’s better, a two-year contract or four six-month contracts? Well, it depends. In keeping with what I discussed in a recent post, there are two types of contractor mentalities: The “get a job” consultant (GAJC) will, nine times out of ten, be more attracted to the two-year contract. This person isn’t thinking about a long-term career in consulting; he or she is thinking about a very well paying contract with the convenience of limited travel. If you add the fact that he or she won’t have to be concerned with looking for another contract for up to two years, well, things just couldn’t get much better.

First, let me clarify what I mean, in the title of this post, by “security.” I’m referring to the money you will have to pay your bills and take care of your family. There are many reasons to join a consulting firm as an employee. Typically, joining a consulting firm due to the perceived security of bench-time pay is not one of them.

Can being happy at your job be bad for your career?  Well, that depends what your mindset is when you are happy with your job.  And for a good percentage of people, it definitely is.

In past posts, I've discussed the difference between firms that hire consultants and those that place consultants on a contract basis. There are firms that hire consultants as salaried employees and pay them whether they're working or not (bench time), and firms that bring on consultants and pay them hourly for the term of the project. There are also some firms that do both.

When thinking about your career as an independent contractor, how do you project your career path? 

In a previous blog post, How to Price Yourself In Health IT Contracting, we discussed how to calculate the minimum hourly rate you need as a contractor in order to know that you’re making a sound financial decision.

As managing partner of a healthcare IT consulting/staff augmentation firm, I’m always having conversations with people who are looking to enter the consulting marketplace.

The term "bench time" refers to the time spent in between engagements as a consultant while working for a consulting firm.

In consulting, professionals face a dilemma when it comes to working as a generalist in their field or focusing as a specialist.

Things change. It’s that simple.

Today we continue our interviews with consultants sharing their perspectives on how and why they got into consulting. I’m really happy to have our guest Kevin Roy, a podiatrist who entered into informatics in 1992 as an associate director of informatics with a hospital in the northeast. He got involved in consulting in 2008. Within the last year he has been working on a project with Healthcare IS, which involved transitioning from one long-term engagement to a project with our firm.

As a consultant, you're going to be traveling weekly. Some of the associated costs can be covered up-front by your firm; other costs you'll have to cover yourself and be reimbursed by your firm. 

In this brief video, I will cover the key points that drive people to consider consulting. 

LinkedIn Ranking

When you belong to a LinkedIn Group and participate on a regular basis, your profile views are going to increase. As a result, your ranking score is going to rise above the scores of others in your network who are searching for the same contracts.

When you are considering taking a contract, many people know to consider the following:

• Is the project a good fit to your skill set?
• How will you fit in culturally with the group at the hospital?
• How much will the position pay?
• What is the expense reimbursement policy?
• What will the travel be like? How long will it take in travel time to get to the client site each week? 
• How often will you be required to travel to the client site? 
• Will they have flexibility if it is necessary for you to work from home occasionally?

When joining a consulting firm, it's important to understand where your skill set and knowledge base fall within their overall focus. Many pharmacists or pharmacy professionals join consulting firms only to realize that even though they signed on to participate in an exciting first project, that project was an exception for the firm, rather than the norm.

As part of their day-to-day job descriptions, hospital IT employees typically have a number of different responsibilities. Most of those responsibilities can be filed in one of two categories: “new project implementation” or “support-type functions.” If you prefer one area over another, you probably can’t image how anyone could like the other area. Many people like the “new project” side because of the satisfaction they get from beginning something new, having a timeline to follow, and seeing a fresh solution implemented within their organization. People who like the “support side” derive satisfaction from working on an immediate problem-fix as well as being a go-to person who keeps things running smoothly. Some people like the variety of having a long-term project on which to focus while, at the same time, dealing with support issues that allow them to have a day-to-day sense of immediate accomplishment. Either way, there’s a multitude of variations out there to keep team members challenged.

Working as a contractor is a big and sometimes nerve racking step for most professionals. Often times because they are leaving their comfort zone for an opportunity to work as a contractor they want to make sure to secure the very best contract.

What do I mean by this title? What I mean is this:

Given the limited options available to the pharmacy IT or pharmacy informatics professional in any given marketplace, it can be challenging to acquire the experience necessary to advance your career. If you live in a city with only two or three hospital IT or informatics departments, the opportunity for you to gain exposure to career options can be limiting. If you’re currently an informatics pharmacist or IT pharmacist, and you’d like to become a project leader or be in a management/director role in the future, the options you have within your current organization or any of the others in your local market may be restricting. 

Most people don’t like change. At the same time, most people don’t like to perform the same mundane tasks day after day, week after week. This paradox can be challenging for the pharmacy IT/pharmacy informatics professional, or for any professional for that matter. 

Use the tips in this week’s SlideShare to manage your client relationships and ensure open, honest communication.

That's a question that can be answered many ways. Find out one Pharmacists answer to this question and many more in our latest interview with Dave Wolfe, Vice President of Professional Services. With over ten years of experience of focus in pharmacy IT he offers a well rounded opinion on the subject. This is the first installment of the Healthcare IS podcast where we will be interviewing a new pharmacist in the IT or informatics field each month. Listen in to hear what these experts have to say and subscribe so you don’t miss out on any episodes.

When you join a consulting firm you may be asked to sign pre-employment documents. You'll receive the standard forms, such as W-4, I-9, etc.

If you’re looking to get into consulting as a contractor (someone who gets paid an hourly rate while on projects but is not paid in between), then you have to understand the difference between getting your first contract and getting every other contract after that.

When you find yourself on contract in a new city, you always feel a bit lost and, quite frequently, hungry. Take a look at the quick tips I’ve put together below, which can help cut your search down to a mere five minutes.

There are people who work for a consulting firm who come to the conclusion that consulting is not for them. This is understandable. What’s unfortunate is when they feel that consulting is not for them when, in fact, the consulting firm they work for is not the right firm for them.

In this Slideshare, you'll find an alternative to ending contracts based on a number of days.  

In the white paper entitled Healthcare System Conversions – Key Points To Consider, we outlined three types of conversions (System Upgrade, New Platform/Same Vendor, and New Platform/New Vendor) and five points to consider when planning for a system conversion.  

In a past post by Allison Harrison, Things That Every Consultant Should Have, she recommends that every consultant hold a designated credit card for expenses incurred on the job.

As you consider a career in Pharmacy IT/informatics you're most likely going to do as much research as you possibly can.

As a Director of Pharmacy, how many times do projects get put on the back burner because it's deemed that there are no resources available? As the pharmacy business owner, you're tasked with managing this issue.

This blog is the third in a series on "Maintaining Disparate Systems." To ensure appropriate pharmacy medication billing, it's imperative that the Charge Description Master (CDM) and Pharmacy Drug Master (PDM) are in sync. The CDM, described as the backbone of the hospital’s revenue cycle, is the key database from which all patient bills are generated.

This blog is the second in a series on "Maintaining Disparate Systems." In the first post we reviewed the definitions and terminology commonly used in healthcare information technology and, more specifically, pharmacy information technology.  This post focuses on the complex challenges of maintaining your formulary and synchronizing it across multiple databases.

Episode 9 is a 10 minute tip segment with David Kushan covering how to find success in an interview when faced with experienced based questions.

If you like what you hear or have an opinion of your own, don’t be afraid to leave us a comment below! Who knows, with your great input you might find yourself joining our guests with an interview of your very own.

Do you find yourself leaving random essentials behind each week as you pack for the life of a road warrior?

Well, so do we. In an effort to get ourselves organized and help out our fellow consultants, the team here at Healthcare IS has collaborated on a list of essentials, so that you won’t find yourself longing for those small but vital comforts while working on-site.

This will be a short post, because its point doesn’t require a lot of elaboration. So, let me quickly tell you this story and get to the point.

In the 15 years Healthcare IS has been in staffing and recruiting for the health information technology industry, we have found three key points that can terminate a successful career.

There are many questions to ask when you first learn about consulting. The most frequent and urgent question is usually, “How will I be paid?”

There are multiple ways to structure compensation

 when moving into independent consulting.

In this presentation we pin point 4 structures of compensation and how they work best in different situations.

Most of the companies we work with have a “salary range” for the position they’re trying to fill. The question is, where do these numbers come from?

Your resume is your most important calling card in your job search. At Healthcare IS we review hundreds of resumes regularly and have outlined the seven most evident segments found on the resumes we evaluate. Continue reading below to discover what these segments are and how you can best utilize them.

Anyone can tell you that getting to the airport early is a key factor in experiencing airport success. At time’s though this may not always be possible. If you find yourself in this predicament often, think about some solutions that might help you get through to the gate a little faster than the average traveler. I’ve listed a few suggestions below that can grease your security wheels and shave some time off your gate race.

A recent case illustrated the following:

Compensation Classification

The holidays are here and with them comes the overwhelming rush to find those perfect presents, send out those Christmas cards and check off your to-do list. Even though it seems to grow three fold every time a task is scratched out.

In Pharmacy Informatics consulting, regardless of your implementation experience, if no one knows what you’re capable of, you might as well be invisible. It’s important to be known and trusted for your skills by securing your place on shortlists and learning how to manage your relationships in ways that gain loyalty and respect.

When transitioning from permanent employment to contract consulting in healthcare IT you need to understand how to price yourself so that you are making a sound financial decision.

In our previous SlideShare presentation we outlined three crucial mistakes that can lead to a short career in contracting, the very first being pricing and budgeting. In this post we hope to address the issue of how to calculate your rate while considering every aspect of working independently.

Your organization went through the monumental effort of implementing the first wave of CPOE to meet the requirement for Stage 1 attestation for meaningful use. What is next? Optimization and adoption.

This is our second podcast in a series about working as a consultant in the healthcare IT industry and talking about the differences between working for a consulting firm and being an independent consultant. Our guest today is Jerry Queen. Jerry comes from the health insurance payer side of healthcare; many of our guests in the past have been on the hospital provider side. He has 25 total years of experience working in the payer IT space with three different health plans, 11 of those years in consulting. He primarily provides his expertise in operational management, configuration management, system integration and operational leadership for payers in the IT area.

Depending upon a company's size, the role of an HR person or department in the hiring process can vary from simply posting an ad and sending resumes to the hiring manager to completing everything through the first interview. The challenge with the latter is making sure that you're not delegating steps throughout the hiring process to a person to whom you've not given the proper tools to complete those steps. 

David Stansbury gives his insight in this month’s Healthcare IS podcast. Listen in and hear David’s experience in working as a pharmacist in IT, making transitions and what he’s observed in the last 30 years of his experience.

This holiday season Healthcare IS has many things to be thankful for, the first being the simple fact that we are able to work in an industry that is making a difference in the way that people provide and receive healthcare.

Every time I see an article on what not to do during an interview, it’s directed toward the candidate. Well, in the recruiting world I’ve seen an equal number of interviews go badly due to something the hiring manager did or didn’t do as because of something the candidate did or didn’t do. A few of the major don’ts come to mind. 

Packing can be a pain, but with these helpful tips maybe you can cut down on space, time, and all those other troubles associated with traveling with luggage. We've broken our packing process down into four easy steps for you: the check-in, the bag, what to bring, and the techniques that have worked for us. If you have tips of your own, please feel free to share them! 

At the most basic level, the definition of a consultant is "a person who provides expert advice professionally."

Take a moment to hear Jerry Fahrni tell his story of experience in Pharmacy IT. He tells us how he came to be in the field of Health IT, what challenges he worked through and observed and what advice he would share with someone looking to break into Pharmacy IT. You can also follow Jerry’s Blog at www.JerryFahrni.com.

As an independent contractor whose current project is coming to an end, you're going to be talking with staffing firms about projects they have coming up for which you may be a good fit. If a particular project sounds like a good fit, the firm with which you’re talking will present you to the client. At that point, whether you’re their W-2 employee or a Corp-to-Corp, you’re being represented by that company. As far as the client is concerned, you’re part of the organization that’s representing you.

If you’re considering getting into consulting as a contractor, you obviously have to be prepared to get new contracts. Depending on the length of the projects you’re on, you may look for new contracts from one to three times a year on average. Unless you’ve built your own client base, you’re going to, most likely, make yourself available for projects through a firm that specializes in finding engagements that require people with your background.

Breaking Away From Your Firm

When you're an employee of a consulting firm and you're thinking about getting into contracting, one of the challenges you'll face is being able to break away from that firm in a smooth manner.

Very often when I am talking with people about their career options the thought of consulting enters into the conversation. Many times, people just aren't sure if consulting is for them. In these situations, I try to give them a starting point in order to determine if consulting is a path they should explore further.

Let me start by clarifying what I mean by "referral fee."

I'm not referring to a placement fee paid to a recruiting firm determined by contract terms. I'm referring to a "bonus" paid to either an internal employee and/or a professional not associated with a recruiting firm upon the hiring of a candidate who was referred by that individual. 

Today's topic concerns something I'm asked quite often. When speaking to people who are working at a hospital and are thinking about getting into contracting, I'm commonly asked, “How do you price yourself in terms of the hourly rate you should be earning?”

In my experience, hiring managers frequently review résumés for a minute or less and come to conclusions that are based on false assumptions. It’s from these false assumptions, in turn, that they base their decisions regarding whom to interview.

You can probably find more books, articles, and blogs on the subject of job interviews than on virtually any other topic. There are the basics of the process that should be well known — what to wear, when to show up, how to follow up, etc. — and which I will not cover in this post. I would like to focus, instead, on the 20% of the interview that is going to create 80% of your value. I simply want to talk about how to respond to questions.

When you’re in consulting, you’re offering your knowledge and skills as a service to organizations in need of that specific expertise.

Contractors frequently express that their #1 fear is not being able to find their next contract. It’s only natural for people dealing with that concern to look for ways to acquire as many skills as possible, in the hope of casting a broad net over contracts for which they can apply.

What I’ve found, over the years, is that there are two types of contractors: “Get a Job” Contractor (GAJC) & “Build a Practice” Contractor (BAPC).

“Get a Job” Contractor

When this type of contractor is looking for their next contract, dollar amount and travel convenience are their top priorities. The more money being paid and the less travel required, the better. This person gives little thought to the type of work or project. They fail to consider how this project will either increase or decrease their marketability for the next project. 

What’s the difference? If someone is "Career Oriented," they have an idea as to what type of position they want to be in down the road (timeframe can vary) and have an idea as to what they need to learn or accomplish in order to be qualified for that position. A "Job Oriented" person is someone who focuses more on their satisfaction with the job they are in today AND for the most part will not consider another job unless they become dissatisfied with their current position.

In December 2010, I was at the ASHP’s (American Society for Health Systems Pharmacists) midyear meeting in Anaheim, CA. Over the years, their track relating to Pharmacy IT and Informatics has really expanded.

Between sessions, I was engaged in a conversation with a Director of Pharmacy and a Manager of Pharmacy Informatics. Both were talking about the technology initiatives their organizations had in place related to pharmacy and the medication management process. Once the discussion evolved into specific project plans and go-live dates, it turned toward having the right people in place — both full-time employees and consultants. Of course, it doesn’t seem like you can have a conversation about hiring Healthcare IT employees without someone saying how hard it is to find the right people. So, when they started telling me how hard it’s been for them to find the right people, they were both a little shocked by my response: “Good people are easy to find.” I paused for effect and when they both stared at me like I was crazy, I added, “Good people are easy to find — they’re just very hard to get hired.”

When evaluating taking a contract, many people will take into consideration the following:

Nothing can be more disruptive to an organization’s plans than the loss of key personnel. As a result, many times partnering organizations, vendor/clients, client/client, and even competing organizations will put in place formal and informal “agreements” to not hire each other’s employees. These types of agreements have existed for many years within various industries, Healthcare IT certainly being one of them. In fact, over the past couple of years, some Healthcare IT vendors and consulting firms have been very aggressive in establishing policies as it relates to hiring practices.

In this post, I want to discuss how to gain credibility with a hiring manager at the conclusion of an interview. 

When looking to get into a new marketplace in which you think there will be high demand, you'll want to consider a few factors:

• How difficult will it be to break into the new market?

• How long will demand last?

• Will you be better off than if you were to remain in your current market?

After consultants have been with a firm for about two to three years, most will stop for the first time and evaluate where they are in regard to their ability to continue traveling on a weekly basis. Put another way, if a consultant is going to burn out on constant traveling, this is typically when it will occur.

7 Hard Hitting Interview Questions for Consultants

A while back we turned to Twitter & Facebook and asked our followers to share with us their worst interview questions. We ended up some pretty funny responses. When it comes down to it, we've all had some ridiculous interview questions thrown our way. What helps us to address these odd ball topics and hard hitting questions is simple. Preparation. In an attempt to share what we know here  at Healthcare IS we put together the following questions that we come across and advice on how to thoughtfully answer them.

As a consultant, you need to know your sellable skill set, or knowledge base. Just as importantly, you have to be able to package yourself in a way that the people who are buying your services will be comfortable engaging you.

I decided to write this particular post as a result of being asked the same question by several consultants over the last two years.

Frequently, people looking to get into contracting don’t have a true understanding of what the Health IT marketplace has to offer in terms of money and required travel. It’s very important to have a realistic understanding of these two criteria in order to work consistently. What I see often is someone waiting to leave their full-time job for a contract that will meet their terms. On the surface, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with this. In fact, it’s exactly what you should do.

From a recruiter’s standpoint, a delay in the hiring process is the most common factor preventing a successful hire. A delay can range from too much time between interviews, to a postponement in making an offer, to putting a position “on hold.” Below are a few things to avoid during the hiring process.

Consultants who work primarily on a contract basis know that there will come a time when their “job” will come to an end, and they’ll have to look for a new one. Even though there are many benefits to contracting, this is the one aspect to which contractors do not look forward.

When I’m asked this question, it’s usually by someone who’s thinking about getting into this profession and looking for some clarification. Since we’re asked this question quite a bit, we decided to devote a post to the responses we received in a number of podcasts our firm produced over the last four months, which can be found on our resources page.

Contracting can be a bit tricky.  You need to keep your current client happy, be on the lookout for your next engagement, while at the same time making sure you attain or maintain a skill set and knowledge base that will continually keep you marketable.

I have been talking with many consultants who work for consulting firms that are thinking about becoming a contractor.  It's natural for people who are considering this change to have some apprehension.  Because of this I wanted to take a minute to highlight the 3 common characteristics I see in successful contractors.

Before each interview, a good recruiter will prepare their candidates with relevant information regarding the interview that's about to take place. The candidate is told who they're speaking/meeting with, how long they should expect the interview to last, what types of questions they will be asked, and, ideally, some information regarding the personality/interview style of the hiring manager(s). 

As a contractor (a consultant who works on a contract-to-contract basis, as opposed to an employee of a firm), you will engage in regular phone calls with firms that place people such as yourself on projects.

There are a handful of factors that motivate people to make a job change. In my experience, it's not just one of these factors that prompts someone to start looking, but a few combined. In the end, though, the focus tends to come down to just one thing: money.

Having been in the executive recruiting business for 30-plus years, I can’t help but notice certain commonalities among top performers. These fundamental traits, which never seem to change, are integrated with a value/belief system that gets results. Let’s look at what makes the great ones get to the top and stay there.

When you join a consulting firm you may be asked to sign pre-employment documents. You’ll receive the standard forms, such as W-4, I-9, etc.

A few times a year, you might find yourself dropping down into a new city to work on a contract. By no means are you jumping from a plane and making your way through jungles or other rugged terrain, but you can still seek adventure and explore like an urban Bear Grylls, the man responsible for the Discovery Channel hit Man vs. Wild.

Over the years, I've personally found active listening to be a very difficult skill to develop. Why? Partly because I'm a "type A" personality who likes to engage assertively, sometimes even aggressively, in conversation. I find myself occasionally interrupting people so that I can get my point across or "win" the conversation/debate. Many words have been written and training programs developed around active listening. Below is a summary of my thoughts on the topic.

While a start date is the last agenda item of the hiring process, it's among the first things that should be considered.

Can you just walk into your manager's office and tell them how much demand there is for your skills and request, or demand, an increase in salary? I guess you could, but what if your manager says, "I would love to increase your salary, but we just don’t have it in the budget."

A while back, Healthcare IS interviewed seven pharmacists who have successfully transitioned from the role of a traditional inpatient pharmacist to that of an IT or informatics pharmacist. The pharmacists in question are some with whom I’ve developed strong relationships. They’ve all been in IT for more than ten years and have profiles on LinkedIn. The objective of these interviews was to provide insight to pharmacists who are looking to enter this field. The questions were broken down into specific topics on which our firm is regularly asked to comment. We believe these short posts that address specific issues will provide value to pharmacists looking to enter this field.

In today's day and age, we are flooded with emails on a daily basis. Most people have a personal email address where we are bombarded with special offers, facebook alerts, updates from friends, etc. as well as a professional email address used for work purposes. And in most cases, this is equally full of new emails on an hourly basis. But are all these email necessary and relavant?

Many people who get into pharmacy informatics/pharmacy IT consulting are motivated by the additional income they can earn. However, there's one factor that keeps many more from transitioning into the market space: the required travel. In fact, the travel makes demand for qualified people that much greater. Still, most people probably wouldn't do the required travel without some additional financial incentive.

As consultants, you find yourselves spending many hours in the air or awaiting departure. For many of you, this time serves as a window of opportunity to get a little extra work done or organize your personal affairs. But on occasion, we all like to pick up an interesting read. This month the Healthcare IS team would like to share one of our favorite new reads, The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do In Life and Business.

When looking to get into a new marketplace in which you think there will be high demand, you'll want to consider a few factors:

If you ask tenured recruiters what's the myth they've most frequently encountered in the business, most would tell you it's the feedback they receive when debriefing candidates following interviews. So often, according to those candidates, they "nailed it" or they "hit a home run" or they’re certain to get a job offer. The reality: More than 75% of the time the employer has no interest in them. In fact, they had a very forgettable interview. Why the disconnect? What happened?

When a pharmacy IT or pharmacy informatics professional is looking to get into consulting, they’ll realize that they have essentially two options: They can work as an employee of a consulting firm or as an independent contractor. Without going into the details of each here (for more information on both, download our free eBook), many people choose to join a consulting firm because of the paid bench time. The advantage of having their salary paid while they’re between projects is perceived as a big benefit. Make sure that you have a solid understanding of bench time first.

This blog is the first in a series on “maintaining disparate systems.” This post reviews the terminology and definitions commonly used in healthcare information technology and, more specifically, pharmacy information technology. We live in a world of acronyms, and having a better understanding of the terminology should improve the pharmacist’s communication with the IT department and IT Vendors.

I realize a lot of companies have had bad experiences with staffing firms, and I am not asking the above question to prompt memories of being burned one way or another. I am asking more to find out if you have enough faith in the firm you are working with to allow them to make your life easier.

How often do you speak with, or get together with, a friend? How about an old colleague? A previous boss? A recruiter with whom you've worked?

In this TED Talk, Daniel Kraft enthusiastically shared with his audience the remarkable advancements in medicine due to evolving technology. He looked at the three topics below, to name just a few. 

When following up on an interview, what's your strategy? If the opportunity is your dream job and there's heavy competition, what are you doing so that you'll stand above the competition? Many years ago, I learned a technique that, when put to use, has resulted in many job offers for candidates. It's called "the job description close" and here's a brief description . . .

One of the main differences between contract placement and permanent placement is the speed of which the contract world moves. 

This is a question we hear quite a bit. It's most often asked by pharmacists looking at the pharmacy IT/pharmacy informatics marketplace when considering a possible career transition. We’re also frequently asked this same question by new pharmacy graduates who’ve heard about, or done research into, the pharmacy IT/pharmacy informatics marketplace.

All of us in the staffing business have often heard, "We're in a candidate-driven market right now," or the opposite: "We're in a client-driven market right now." How about, "We are in neither?" The reality of the demand for "A" talent is that hiring the best requires a philosophical approach and process that consistently advocates a sense of urgency for all parties involved.

Some companies prefer filling positions on a contract-to-hire basis. These are full-time positions within an organization, but rather than hiring someone straight into the role, the company opts to hire the candidate on a contract basis first. Then, if things go well, the company converts the person to FTE (full-time employee) status.  

That’s just one of many questions we addressed with Ron Burnett in our latest Healthcare IS Podcast. Ron has been a practicing pharmacist for the last 29 years. Primarily working in hospital pharmacy practice, he has also done work in home infusion and the retail space. With 14 of those 29 years spent in the informatics space, Ron comes with immense insights from all angles of practicing pharmacy and our country’s implementation of informatics in hospitals.

Once you've been in the consulting field for a reasonable amount of time, you'll be faced with a client that's in a bind and wants you to start immediately.

Most people who get into Healthcare IT consulting come from a career spent, primarily, in hospital IT or informatics departments. By the time they seriously explore such a career move, they have five-plus years of industry experience and have worked for multiple organizations. 

One of the questions we're asked most frequently is, Which department is the best to work for, Pharmacy or IT?

More often than not, losing your job comes as a complete surprise. In my experience, when people get news of their termination or a contract ending early, they find themselves in an uncomfortable position - hit with a sense of urgency to find something new. 

Recently we interviewed 7 pharmacist who trasitioned into pharmacy IT. All of the seven pharmacists we interviewed for career-transition insights felt as though they’d made a good decision. Obviously, though, not every pharmacist who makes this career transition ends up feeling like it was a great move. We did not speak with any pharmacists who transitioned into IT/informatics and felt like they’d made a bad move, but the group with which we spoke has seen a number of pharmacists come and go. As a result, we felt they could also provide insight into aspects of the profession that caused their colleagues to leave.

In an earlier post, Road Warriors: Driving In a Foreign State, we explored different traffic laws from state to state.

Now that most of you have thought about what you want to accomplish next year (including how you want to accomplish it), and have even done some traditional planning with objectives, metrics, and desired outcomes, perhaps it's time for a different perspective.

In 2012 Healthcare IS started our company blog. In 2013 we celebrated one year of successful blogging and now in 2014, we get to introduce two new bloggers from the Healthcare IS team. 

I tell contractors that when the next recession comes around (and it will), the rate they’re able to charge for their work will likely drop. Most of them understand why. During a recession, there’s less work. When there’s less work (i.e. less demand) with the same number of consultants looking for projects (i.e. same supply), contractors are likely to see the amount they can charge go down.

Today’s interview features Gwen Darling, president and founder of Healthcare IT Central and Healthcare IT Today. Gwen’s efforts have resulted in two excellent industry resources for job opportunities and career development. HCITC and HCITT are now part of the HealthcareScene.com network.

A few months ago, I read a New York Times article by Thomas Friedman titled "Need a Job? Invent It." In this article, Friedman refers to the book Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World by Tony Wagner, a Harvard education specialist. In the book, Wagner makes reference to a few key points:

"Emotional equity" is a term I use to explain something that I realize exists, but that most hiring managers do not. The problem is that most hiring managers I deal with are not only unaware of the term, but they’re also unaware of the concepts.

Most candidates who have more than ten years of professional experience cannot list all of that experience, not to mention their associated accomplishments, in the concise format of a professional résumé.

Every contractor has his or her dream contract envisioned, usually before they even begin consulting. In today’s podcast, Managing Partner David Kushan examines the perfect contract — what happens when it’s found and what it means when the second contract needs to be secured.

I Need Them Yesterday, But I Don't Have Time to Interview Them Tomorrow

By the time a hiring need arrives at a recruiting firm, it’s usually an urgent need. The company has already tried to fill the position on its own and maybe spent too much time doing so. When they decide to pay a fee to fill this position, they’re feeling the pain of not having someone in the role to complete the work. 

When you have 22 minutes to spare today, catch this 2013 TED Talk with Joel Selanikio as he uncovers the Big Picture behind Big Data. 

Times are good now. That means most contractors are not going to pay much attention to this post. Which is a shame, because while many contractors do well during good times, the longevity and fruitfulness of their careers is directly proportionate to the work they do at times just like these — not when projects slow and times get tough.

If you experience high levels of anxiety when facing a job interview you are among 92% of the U.S. adult population.

Only 7% of the adult population surveyed claimed to have nothing to fear when it comes to interviewing. 

If you have been a hiring manager long enough, inevitably you have hired the “wrong” person.  When you hire someone and realize within the first 90 days it not going to work out, most people would classify this as a bad hire…or a hiring mistake.  Most people are easily able to figure our how costly this mistake can be.

It’s impossible to have an active account on Google+ without witnessing the exponential growth of communities and group discussions whether it’s on a post, discussions within communities or through Hangouts.

A "telephone screen" can be conducted by anyone within an organization, from Human Resources up to the CEO. Does it really matter who actually conducts that first telephone interview? In my experience, yes, it absolutely does.

A 2010 article in ModernHealthcare.com and HealthcareITNews.com projected the need for at least an additional 50,000 Healthcare IT workers due to the demand being created to obtain Meaningful Use compliance.

Google+ communities, much like LinkedIn Groups, are created for people to get together and talk about the interests/passions they share.

The May 2013 issue of Inc. magazine featured an infographic (on page 24) concerning trends in big company hiring. 

Specific references were made to the fact that, for most companies that are hiring, online “job boards” are not producing the results they used to. When it comes to hiring online, employers need to be where the employees are. At the dawn of Internet recruiting in the late ’90s, people looking for jobs would regularly go to job boards or would post their résumés online when they were open to hearing about job opportunities. 

What are your plans to celebrate?

Remember your goal and why you chose it.

It has officially been 6 months since the beginning of the year when many of us made our New Year’s Resolution. What was your goal? Think back to what changes you decided to make for yourself. This was a goal you set with the intention of completing it within the year. Why? According to Statistic Brain, 45% of Americans usually make a New Year’s resolution. Of that 45% only 8% find success with their year-end goals. So how can ensure that you will make that 8%?

Every time the American economy comes out of a recession, the employment landscape changes. Typically, this occurs due to the adjustments companies have made to survive, as well as the shifts in mindset among employees who were directly affected. As we know, many employees either lost their jobs, had their salaries and/or benefits reduced, or had their roles changed virtually overnight.

Welcome to our second series of the Healthcare IS Podcast. The next set of podcast episodes will be geared towards individuals who are interested to hear how others have transitioned from full time employment to contract consulting. In this episode we are visited again by our popular guest Dave Wolfe as he shares his career path in consulting and the choices he made that lead him to a successful profession as an independent consultant.

As a staffing firm, we’re reaching out to new people on a daily basis. So, in the age of caller ID, when our phone number is unrecognized by the person we’re calling, you can imagine that we leave a lot of voicemails.  Due to the many referrals we get, and with the wide use of cellphones, most of the time we place our first call to someone’s mobile number. 

As an independent consultant you are responsible for managing your projects, tracking your expenses and staying on schedule while traveling 4-5 days a week. It doesn’t leave much time for managing your personal expenses. Nearly all companies, banks and service providers make it easy to receive an e-bill and provide you with an online account for the ease of reminders and paying bills online.

As a traveling consultant, do you dread sending in weekly/monthly expense reports?

Imagine this familiar feeling.  You’re in a new city and a new airport.  You know you have an hour to kill before your flight begins boarding.  The rows of black chairs are filled with only awkward spaces left between wayward travelers.  

As a traveling consultant, your job description contains more duties more than just your Health IT project. Working independently or for a firm means that you need to be tracking your own hours and recording your own expenses. Finding a rhythm to staying organized takes time, but with these helpful apps you may find that tracking, and exporting a time and expense report, may be as simple as a few taps on your phone or tablet.

Have you ever found yourself stranded in an airport, waiting for a delayed flight with only limited or expensive wireless Internet available? What about working from a café where the wireless is slow or even nonexistent? What about moving into a new home before your Internet can be transferred or turned on? No matter where or why, we’ve all found ourselves without wireless when we’ve wanted it or even needed it.

The New Year has arrived! Welcome 2013 and all of the wonderful things ahead. It's the season of resolutions and Healthcare IS is ready to jump in with both feet. Throughout 2012 we developed our company blog, and thanks to our tips and takes on industry trends we’ve received some great feedback from our readers.

New social media networks turn the business travel world into a much smaller place with new networks that allow solo travelers to login and connect with fellow businessmen and women on flights and in cities.

Working in consulting management, we send our consultants out on a Monday and home again the following Thursday. That’s two trips a week that can offer, previously missed, camaraderie.

Working as a traveling consultant has a lot of upsides but one of the biggest downsides is being away from your family. Our consultants have found some pretty creative ways to connect while away from home. Some of them documenting their trips with a lovable family stuffed animal and others who prerecord bedtime stories for their children. 

The buzz around the election is deafening and Healthcare IS has gathered a few articles that highlight what’s expected to happen next. There are two articles from Health IT-focused sources that touch on the coming year as well as an interview with CHIME’s Sharon Canner.

—  Healthcare IS Team

A new proposed study has been submitted by The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) in hopes of examining six clinics over a period of 14 months to learn more about the effectiveness of Health IT and the impact of workflow and health IT in ambulatory care practices.

I’ve always been a sports fan. In fact, I played various organized sports from the time I was six all the way through college, where I played baseball. In my opinion, so much of what happens in the sports world has direct correlations to everyday life. I also believe there are many lessons there that can be applied to hiring and team building.

In past posts, I've made reference to some of the many articles publicizing shortages that currently exist, and will persist, in finding and hiring specialized skills within the Healthcare IT/Informatics market.

It simply amazes me (and I’m not amazed too often) how bad some people are at hiring or building a team. It's almost as if - and I'm not trying to be sarcastic here - some people are trying to mess things up. Otherwise, I can't imagine how someone in a management role could stop, think, and then still do the things they do.

In my last post, I talked about the concept of a candidate being “deliverable.” From a hiring manager’s perspective, a candidate being deliverable translates to the likelihood of a prospective candidate accepting your offer. A candidate may have a low level of deliverability for one position but a very high level for another.

Lately, everyone I talk with expresses how significantly demand has picked up in the Healthcare IT job market. Most employers have multiple positions open and most candidates I speak with say the volume of calls they receive for positions has certainly picked up compared to a year ago.

Optimal performance during this process reflects very positively on the organization, as this is where first and lasting impressions are made among all parties involved. Thus, structure, formality, and the positive alignment of all decision-makers are highly important factors for on-boarding the very best candidates. If this alignment is not present during the process, then clearly the candidate will sense this and might have hesitancy or doubts as to whether this is the “dream” career that he or she is seeking.

As parts of the overall job market are starting to improve (Healthcare IT being one of them, of course), I’m beginning to see a lot of the same headlines I saw when the economy was coming out of the 2001 recession. Articles about employment branding (which should never stop, even in bad times), the war for talent, etc. are popping up quite a bit. Estimates are showing that the Healthcare IT industry could be up to 50,000 new positions.

The concept of blogging is nothing new but as the application process turns digital and fewer and fewer paper resumes are passed around.. One thing is for sure, taking advantage of the electronic era can only further your candidacy for the job you want.

In today's post we offer you an interview with Steve Sisko, author of ICD-10 Impact to Health Care Payers & Providers. We approached Steve for our company blog, intrigued by his quick climb to the top in featured lists such as Top Ten Bloggers to Follow on Twitter and his number five position on the #HIT100 list. We get to see a lot of Steve's work from the technical side published on his blog and through his guest contributions. This time we wanted know the man behind the technology and how he has gained success in the Health IT industry and become an opinion leader in Health IT social media. Below Steve answers a variety of questions about his experience blogging, his recent recognition and how all of this has affected him as a professional, blogger and family man. At the bottom of the post, feel free to leave any further questions you might have. Steve has generously agreed to personally answer questions by readers.

In the past, our firm has taken on projects for multiple hires with health systems with which we’ve never worked (it’s always exciting when taking on new clients). One particular client, like many healthcare organizations across the country, continually embarks on very ambitious projects. This client has a track record of fantastic accomplishments.

In today's healthcare IT job market standing out in a file of submitted resumes can be a challenge. With an abundance of resumes sent every day, consultants are finding the "thank you, but no thank you" response to be an unfortunate loyal visitor to their inbox.  Inevitably, after weeks of job hunting and hopeful submittals, your frustration builds and begins to chip away at your motivation.