M03-06 · AI + Healthcare Operations

Health IT Consulting Practice

Teaches students the business and operational specifics of health IT consulting, building on the universal freelance operations covered in CORE-08. Covers the health IT staffing firm landscape (Nordic, Tegria, HCTec, Accenture Health), Epic certification paths and their rate premium, healthcare-specific consulting compliance (background checks, drug screening, immunization records, E&O insurance), engagement types, and documentation practices for compliance-driven environments.

20 Hours

6 Learning objectives

Create Bloom's ceiling (?)

4 Competencies

What You'll Be Able To Do

Learning Objectives

Objectives

Depth

Evaluate health IT staffing firms (Nordic, Tegria, HCTec, Accenture Health) by comparing rate structures, engagement types, pipeline reliability, and autonomy tradeoffs Evaluate
Analyze Epic certification paths to select specializations (Clinical Documentation, Orders, Reporting, Bridges, Cogito Analytics, Beaker, Willow, Cadence) that align with career goals and market demand Analyze
Apply healthcare consulting compliance requirements including background checks, OIG exclusion list verification, drug screening, TB testing, immunization records, and BAA execution Apply
Design a consulting service offering with appropriate engagement models (staff augmentation, project-based, advisory, implementation support) and rate structures Create
Create documentation that meets healthcare audit and compliance standards, including migration runbooks, rollback procedures, and interface specifications Create
Apply strategies for building reputation in healthcare IT including CHIME membership, HIMSS networking, and niche content publishing on interoperability topics Apply

Levels: Remember · Understand · Apply · Analyze · Evaluate · Create — highest demands most original thinking.

Core Competencies

What You'll Master

Health IT Market Navigation

Staffing firm relationships, direct contracting strategies, Epic certification as market differentiator, CHIME/HIMSS networking, health IT niche content.

Healthcare Consulting Compliance

Pre-engagement requirements (background check, drug screen, immunizations, TB test), per-engagement HIPAA training, BAA execution, E&O insurance ($1M-2M coverage).

Engagement Scoping & Delivery

Staff augmentation vs. project-based vs. advisory vs. implementation support, rate negotiations, milestone definitions, scope management in regulated environments.

Compliance-Grade Documentation

Migration runbooks, interface specifications, test results, rollback procedures, audit-ready project records, lessons-learned documentation.

Portfolio Artifact

What You'll Build

Health IT Consulting Launch Plan — Student creates a health IT consulting market entry strategy: a target market analysis comparing 3 staffing firms and 2 direct-contracting approaches, an Epic certification roadmap with timeline and expected rate impact, a compliance readiness checklist (background check, immunizations, E&O insurance, BAA templates), a sample project proposal for a 6-month interface migration engagement, and a professional development plan including CHIME/HIMSS participation and content publishing strategy.

Tools You'll Use

Industry Tools, Not Toy Projects

Professional networking and content publishing platform for building health IT consulting visibility.

Healthcare IT News / HIMSS Blog

Industry publishing platforms for thought leadership and niche content on interoperability topics.

Google Docs

Collaborative document platform for proposals, engagement documentation, and compliance-grade deliverables.

Google Sheets

Spreadsheet tool for rate analysis, engagement tracking, and market comparison documentation.

Claude

AI assistant for proposal drafting, market research, and consulting strategy development.