Applications Analyst

Organization Overview, Mission, Vision, and Values

Our mission is to improve the health of people in the communities we serve through compassionate, high-quality care, prevention, and wellness education. Washington Regional Medical System is a community-owned, locally governed, non-profit health care system located in Northwest Arkansas in the heart of Fayetteville, which is consistently ranked among the Best Places to live in the country. Our 425-bed medical center has been named the #1 hospital in Arkansas for five consecutive years by U.S. News & World Report. We employ 3,400+ team members and serve the region with over 40 clinic locations, the region’s only Level II trauma center, and five Centers of Excellence - the Washington Regional J.B. Hunt Transport Services Neuroscience Institute; Washington Regional Walker Heart Institute; Washington Regional Women and Infants Center; Washington Regional Total Joint Center; and Washington Regional Pat Walker Center for Seniors. 

Position Summary

The Applications Analyst – Epic Cadence reports to the Assistant Manager, Epic Applications. This position is responsible for advanced support, troubleshooting, maintenance, build, testing, and optimization of Epic Cadence and related enterprise scheduling workflows. The role partners with ambulatory, hospital operations, patient access, registration, referral management, authorization, revenue cycle, clinical, contact center, information services, and Epic/vendor stakeholders to improve appointment scheduling, provider templates, appointment requests, referral and authorization workflows, patient access operations, campaign-supported outreach, eligibility-related workflows, and cross-application integration; ensure application reliability; and support a consistent, efficient, and patient-centered access experience across the health system.

Essential Position Responsibilities

• Maintain advanced knowledge of Epic Cadence functionality, including enterprise scheduling, provider and department templates, appointment requests, referral-linked scheduling, workqueues, contact center workflows, campaign-supported outreach, scheduling rules, registration and Prelude dependencies, eligibility-related workflows, application dependencies, integration points, and downstream impacts across the enterprise
• Lead ambulatory, hospital operations, patient access, registration, referral management, authorization, revenue cycle, contact center, clinical, internal information services, and Epic/vendor partners in developing Epic Cadence enhancements, optimization initiatives, and workflow improvement projects
• Oversee Epic Cadence application design, build, configuration, maintenance, and validation to ensure functionality aligns with enterprise scheduling, patient access, registration, referral, authorization, ambulatory, hospital operations, contact center, clinical, revenue cycle, reporting, and end-user requirements
• Perform complex analysis, build, implementation, and optimization of Epic Cadence workflows to support appointment scheduling, appointment requests, provider and department templates, referral-linked scheduling, authorizations, campaign-supported outreach, Prelude workflows, real-time eligibility-related workflows, patient access operations, and integrated access workflows
• Meet regularly with ambulatory, hospital operations, patient access, registration, referral management, authorization, revenue cycle, contact center, clinical, administrative, and patient experience teams to evaluate Epic Cadence workflow issues, resolve system concerns, and identify opportunities to improve access, scheduling efficiency, referral and authorization coordination, patient engagement, operational efficiency, quality, safety, documentation integrity, and the end-user and patient experience
• Lead the development and execution of coordinated testing plans for Epic Cadence, including regression, unit, system, integrated, interface, scheduling, referral, authorization, registration, Prelude, eligibility, campaign, reporting, and user acceptance testing to ensure changes function as expected for end users, patients, and connected systems
• Serve as a leading advocate for Epic Cadence users by translating patient access, scheduling, registration, referral, authorization, ambulatory, hospital operations, clinical, revenue cycle, contact center, and patient experience needs into effective system solutions that improve access, workflow efficiency, referral and authorization coordination, reporting reliability, and user satisfaction
• Provide mentorship for team members and assist with team member training, as needed
• Ensure that programs and services meet accrediting standards for the Joint Commission, Quality, Promoting Interoperability, and other accrediting and governance programs
• Ensure the safeguarding of protected health information
• Maintain communication through various resources and tools 
• Monitor help desk software for new tickets and update and provide resolution for existing tickets
• Lead Epic Cadence projects, enhancements, upgrades, optimization efforts, testing activities, template maintenance, scheduling workflow improvements, referral and authorization coordination efforts, campaign-supported outreach initiatives, and ongoing maintenance initiatives
• Identify and lead opportunities to improve Epic-supported scheduling, provider template, appointment request, referral, authorization, Prelude, real-time eligibility, campaign, contact center, patient access, reporting, and patient experience workflows through system optimization, standardization, and process improvement
• Adhere to all information services policies, procedures, and governance processes
• Lead incident response and downtime procedures

Qualifications

• Education:  Bachelor’s degree or clinical license, preferred.
• Licensure and Certifications: Epic Cadence certification required. Epic certifications or proficiencies in Referrals & Authorizations, Cheers Campaigns, Prelude, and Real-Time Eligibility preferred.
• Experience: Four to six years of clinical, operational, revenue cycle, scheduling, patient access, or applications experience as an applications analyst supporting multiple modules/applications, with direct experience in Epic build, testing, implementation, troubleshooting, and optimization strongly preferred. Experience supporting Epic Cadence workflows is preferred, including enterprise scheduling, appointment requests, provider and department templates, referral-linked scheduling, referral and authorization workflows, campaign-supported outreach, Prelude workflows, real-time eligibility-related workflows, contact center workflows, workqueues, reporting, and integrated patient access workflows. Strong understanding of clinical, operational, patient access, registration, revenue cycle, referral, authorization, scheduling, and application dependencies; workflow impacts; testing methodologies; interface and integration workflows; and coordination with technology, interface, data, reporting, ambulatory, clinical, revenue cycle, contact center, patient access, patient experience, and operational teams is required.

Work Environment: This position will spend 90% of time sitting while performing work in a standard office environment and 10% of time standing and/or walking while pushing, pulling, lifting, and/or carrying up to 50 lbs.  This is role is considered a remote position with onsite presence as needed.