Questions...

perseus29 · Jun 24, 2006

I'm looking for more information about jobs helping to implement new computer systems on site in hospitals. Can anyone tell me what the typical salary range for these positions would be? I have no official computer implementation experience, but as a travel nurse I have gone through 4 or 5 different "go-lives" with different computer systems over the past 2 years. I know these positions would mean a lot of traveling; do most companies require you to relocate near the company, or is it possible to stay in my home state? Any information anyone could provide would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!!!

Salaries tend to vary depending where you are and experience level of course. A new grad (undergrad) coming out of schoool with no experience might be making 45k and above. (This is based on a friend of mine who just graduated last summer, and had about 3 offers---1 at a hospital and 2 with software vendors;the lowest was of course the hospital at 41k, and the software vendor the highest at 45k, but he's 22 and zero, zero experience). With nursing experience then you might be looking at 55k and above; hospitals pay the least, unless you're the director or maybe manager. 3rd party consultant companies (companies that hire experience software implementators that have worked for vendors/hospitals in the past) pay the most, but generally you would need to have a year or more of experience implementing a system and those salaries could begin at 75k+ a year. Working at a vendor would pay higher than a hospital, most likely. Some companies require relocation, others do not. Epic for example mandates you move to Madison, Wisconsin, Cerner---if you have zero experience, you are required to live in Kansas City for 2 years or so I think, and with experience, you can live wherever. MOst of these places though, do require you to live in a city that has an airport. Also, traveling requires on your position! If you're the software consultant, sure you will be traveling. If you're lets say the software tester, you might not. All depends on the position. If you work at a hospital, most likely you might do local travel if the hospital is part of a health system, or maybe state wide if the health system has many hospitals across the nation. If the position is just for that hospital, then no traveling. As you can read, just like n ursing, the choices are many, and is hard to say specifically what salaries are, etc.

cwinlv · Jul 8, 2006

Disregard.

rninformatics, DNP, RN · Jul 10, 2006

Hello pjsleepy,

There is a wide range salary within this specialty. I'll refer you to the last Nursing Informatics survey that HIMSS administered for salary range examples - see link below. Salaries vary depending upon where the position is located geographically, your employment setting, type of position, whether or not you work for a vendor or an acute care facility, how much experience you have, etc.

http://www.himss.org/content/files/nursing_info_survey2004.pdf

Positions implementing systems for vendors (Meditech, Cerner, etc) usually require that you travel. Implementing a system for an acute care facility in your home town might require minimal to no travel. If you work for an integrated delivery netowork (example: an organization that has 3 hospitals spread out over 3 different counties) then you might be required to do some travel. It would depend on the organization. The vendor Epic requires all its employees live in Wisc. but they implement systems all over the US. Again, it all depends on the employer.

Good Luck!

I'm looking for more information about jobs helping to implement new computer systems on site in hospitals. Can anyone tell me what the typical salary range for these positions would be? I have no official computer implementation experience, but as a travel nurse I have gone through 4 or 5 different "go-lives" with different computer systems over the past 2 years. I know these positions would mean a lot of traveling; do most companies require you to relocate near the company, or is it possible to stay in my home state? Any information anyone could provide would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!!!