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Epic XGM 2019 – How Consultants might Participate
With Epic’s series of Advisory Councils and Roundtables kicking off on April 29th, clients are preparing to send their teams to Verona, WI to share and obtain information with other clients across the country. This time of year I am often asked how as a consultant can we participate and benefit. No doubt these sessions are extremely valuable to Epic’s customers with opportunities to exchange best practices, success stories, and hear from Epic directly on a wide range of topics including upcoming system enhancements. But with attendance limited to clients, how can we benefit?
I had the opportunity in the past to participate in Project Managers Advisory Council (PMAC) as I was leading efforts on an implementation. Typically consultants in PM or Project Director level roles may be able to register to attend as representatives of their client. Rarely are analysts, builders, or trainers given this opportunity. However, your client will no doubt be looking to send teams of resources over the 2 weeks of sessions, and you should be prepared to assist anyway you can.
One way, is to inquire on your clients level of participation (i.e. presenting), and ask if you can assist with pulling those materials together. XGM is meant to be an exchange of information and clients are presenting case studies, best practices, and lessons learned to other organizations. By assisting with developing these materials, you are not only contributing to the event, but will likely receive the feedback from the team when they return. Comparisons to approach and methodologies are essential to keep your skills up to date, so ask to hear how the presentation was received and what variances of success stories where shared by others.
The council and roundtable sessions are application area focused. The number of application groups is pretty impressive and include areas for clinical, financial, ancillary, Oncology, Home Health, Pharmacy, Population Health, Scheduling, Security, and many more. Be sure to go to the UserWeb and find out when your groups event is and inquire who is going from your client (click here for a full schedule). Then based on your focus area, ask how you can learn from those attending. If you are a trainer for example, inquire on who from your team will be attending the Training Advisory Council (TAC). The expectation for this group is usually panel discussions and sharing of materials. Ask if you the materials obtained can be shared when the team returns.
Much like UGM, XGM access is primarily limited to clients. As client partners, advisors, and team members, we all can benefit and learn much from these events. Clients make difficult decisions on who they can send and have an expectation those who do participate will gather information and return to update the teams. You are part of the team…be sure you are updated and educated as well.
Plan to attend XGM or already assisting with presentations? Share your thoughts and comments below.
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