Does anyone out there work the Go Lives?

rninformatics, DNP, RN · Apr 20, 2011

So clarify for me if you will?

You are working an implementation Go Live for an organization that you are NOT employed by in another role such as staff nurse?

Scenario: You are a staff nurse on 4N and work bedside nursing 3-11 but you are also a super user for the documentation system so during the Go Live you also provide implementation support during the go live?

Is that what you mean or

Scenario: You work as a staff nurse for hospital A and on occasion when Hospital B has a go live you work their go live but you are not an employee of Hospital B or you are an employee of Hospital A and B??

Clarify please.

I do know of consulting firms that provide Go Live support/ supplemental IT staffing for the Go Live. But the consulting staff dont just go from site to site doing just Go Lives they also are analysts, builders, project managers, etc

Just wondering how many of you actually work go lives? I have worked on and off, outside of my regular job, traveling to other cities to help with go lives. I wonder how many people have started doing this as a career. If so, what are your normal pay rates? Wondering if this would be something I could do full time.
Thanks!

aprilhicks · Apr 20, 2011

I work at hospital A, and on my off time, or vacation time, I go with this consulting firm to hospital B for a week to work their go live as support staff. I know that some people do this type of work full time, but wondered how they go about finding the jobs.

rninformatics, DNP, RN · Apr 20, 2011

Okay. Now I understand and Thanks.

As I wrote I dont know of any firms that just and only exclusively supply go live staff. Perhaps others who frequent this board do. You cant get a full time role with the consulting company you are currently doing this for? Why not also ask them?

Good Luck

I work at hospital A, and on my off time, or vacation time, I go with this consulting firm to hospital B for a week to work their go live as support staff. I know that some people do this type of work full time, but wondered how they go about finding the jobs.

ikarus01 · Apr 20, 2011

I have done go live support and the most consecutive months I ever did was close to 4 months of supporting a couple of different clients and this was by working for 2 different consulting firms. This was really an exception because at the time it so happened that one hospital had a couple of other hospitals going live, so I did 3 weeks of go live support at one, then moved to the other one, and also, in between, there was the training for the go live, and after this one client finished, another one popped up; but after the last one, there was nothing more.

I have a few consulting friends and don't know of any body that does go live support all the time. And the one person that I know that does this, does it sporadically. She might be employed for a month, but next few weeks she is not and the only reason she was doing to live support, was because she didn't have any experience configuring the tools for her apps, so it was kind of difficult for her to get a consulting gig where she would go and configure the system, as hospitals wanted somebody experienced for those type of gigs.

guest2210 · Apr 27, 2011

while it's true not very many go lives are ft gigs, depending on the facility and their roll out schedule, you can work ft for a year or more but usually as a trainer, then supplying elbow support during the go live. i am currently involved in an ambulatory project-6 months, as a trainer/analyst. it's a different world from inpatient. of the 20 or so consultants on this project, 2 are rns, 3 are lpns, the rest have no medical background but most have been certified in epic from their firms being epic partners and the facility we are at sponsoring them for certification. i miss inpatient and hope to go back to it after a longggggggg vacation...lol

alot of facilities want nurses as trainers because they understand the lingo and scenarios involved in the curriculum. don't limit yourself to one firm. the more firms you sign on with the more likely you can almost get fulltime hours. some firms also offer ft salaried positions with benefits, but you are at their beck and call, to go where the need is. but if they honestly don't have a project to send you on, you can still collect a paycheck, though the rate can be lower than being a consultant... :smokin:

rninformatics, DNP, RN · Apr 27, 2011

greetings emr lpn can you give aprilhicks and the rest of use the name of a few of these "firms" that you know do this?

what you describe sounds like contract consulting. these roles are not limited to go live support (in the way aprilhicks described) but also include being a trainer and an analyst performing system set up and trouble shooting reported issues.

the contracts are for a prescribed length of time and can end sooner or be extended to last longer, depending on the client's needs.

the client/employer is ususally a hospital, an out pt center, physician practice or through a consulting or staffing company. is this what you mean when you write: "firm" and "firms"?

while it's true not very many go lives are ft gigs, depending on the facility and their roll out schedule, you can work ft for a year or more but usually as a trainer, then supplying elbow support during the go live. i am currently involved in an ambulatory project-6 months, as a trainer/analyst. it's a different world from inpatient. of the 20 or so consultants on this project, 2 are rns, 3 are lpns, the rest have no medical background but most have been certified in epic from their firms being epic partners and the facility we are at sponsoring them for certification. i miss inpatient and hope to go back to it after a longggggggg vacation...lol
alot of facilities want nurses as trainers because they understand the lingo and scenarios involved in the curriculum. don't limit yourself to one firm. the more firms you sign on with the more likely you can almost get fulltime hours. some firms also offer ft salaried positions with benefits, but you are at their beck and call, to go where the need is. but if they honestly don't have a project to send you on, you can still collect a paycheck, though the rate can be lower than being a consultant...

k564088 · Sep 9, 2011

what is the name of the consulting firm that you are using?

guest2210 · Oct 11, 2011

Sorry for the delay in replying...traveling alot lately...Some firms or agencies are very good, some others , not so much. I have been involved with Profero Solutions, Apex Systems, PlanIT Technology, CSI Technologies, MaxIT. Unfortunately, firms are popping up all around the country with the federal mandate time limits approaching. Some have never supplied staff to a facility before, or have but it's been on a much smaller scale than a full out go live needing 200-300 support staff. These days I primarily tend to the physicians, training, setting up customization for their notes and preferences prior to go live since doing this ahead of time is such a huge time-saver. Not many facilities allow access to the production side of their system before the actual go live date. I've been fortunate with this facility-my third implementation with them. I have had 3 assignments this year-all out of town-with 2 weeks off in between each project. Not a difficult lifestyle to get used to if you have the ability to travel. I don't have the certifications or build experience many of the consulting firms are seeking. It is the facility that dictate to the firms what type of consultants they are looking for. There are more certified positions than there are certified people, in Epic, at least. With each project, I learn a little more of the background basis of the implementation, which helps on the resume`. There is a technilogical website, "social-network" if you will, that helps people develop their resumes, interviews and transition from most any field to the electronic medical records field, which is really booming at the moment. Please feel free to email me anytime, and I will try my best to answer any questions or at least try to direct you to who might know the answers.

linstuff · Jul 20, 2014

Hello - you mention that you occasionally work go lives. I am actually looking for part time work and this would be perfect for me. Who did you contact and how did you go about getting these gigs?

Also you mentioned tech websites/social networks that help people develop their resume, but did not say what these are or web addresses.

Can you help me out with these two things? I would appreciate greatly!

guest2210 · Jul 21, 2014

Some nurses actually schedule their vacations around another facility's go live schedule.

I first started by setting up my resume on Find Jobs. Build a Better Career. Find Your Calling. | Monster.com, in 2009, and received my first travel assignment at that time and have not stopped since then. I work when I want. If I want to work spring, summer and fall, then take the winter off in Florida, I do.

I then set up an account on http://www.linkedin.com . There is a free account and another type with a monthly fee. I still use the free acct.

On linked in, you can state in your profile that you are looking specifically for go lives and when you are available. When you post your resume, be sure to state your Epic or other EMR experience and what versions you have used, as well as medical background. The consulting firms do a search with keywords that will pop your resume to them.

The only problem is that the field is so very over-saturated right now. How that happened is, with a lot of the larger medical centers going to Epic or another EMR, they take internal employees, train them as credentialed trainers in the specific areas, keeping them as analysts during the duration of the implementation. Once the implementation is complete, these internal employees do not want to return to their normal units. They do what I described above, and enter the world of consulting. What this has done to those of us who have been doing it for awhile, is lower the rates that our experience demands a higher rate for, making it unbelievably difficult to find projects that the facility is willing to pay us our worth.

The ultimate goal for any consultant is to get certified in an Epic module. Some of the more elite consulting firms have a partnership with Epic and could send their consultants for certification. That is no longer the case. Epic has made it more difficult for the seasoned consultant to obtain certification due to the demand from everyone jumping on the bandwagon.

My last assignment, I was told that she received resumes from people from South Africa, with no consulting experience, whose only job listed was that of diamond dust consultants. She said she had at least half a dozen of these. She actually checked their Linked In and Facebook accounts to research the applicants to determine who was genuine and who was just looking for a fast buck.

Some of the more reputable consulting firms, and this is by no means the entire list, just the ones I have either worked with or have heard good things about, are: Virtelligence, Inc, based in MN; Santa Rosa Consulting; HCTec Partners; CSI Companies; Brookmeade; Apex Systems, among many, many others. You need to be diligent is your research of firms that approach your for an assignment.

I hope I answered some of your questions. Good luck.

linstuff · Jul 21, 2014

Thanks for your AWESOME response. One last question - you mentioned that there's a website, "social-network" that helps people develop their resumes, interviews and transition from most any field to the electronic medical records field. Can you tell me how to access that network. I need to whip my resume into shape and not sure what is best to accentuate when looking for consulting job. I worked with Cerner in the past while working in the ER but do not have any actual consulting experience, so would need some training.