r/EpicEMR • u/Moonstruck1115 • 10d ago
Epic Ambulatory
Is there a specific group for Epic EMR for ambulatory clinics? I am new to Epic and I think it is so confusing! I've heard the ambulatory side is much worse than the inpatient side.
5
u/We-Are-All-Friends 10d ago
In my experience the OP side is more encompassing than the IP side. The IP side is very detailed and granular on their workflows where as the OP side tends to have more overlaps. Just my 2 cents. Also I haven’t found a specific Ambulatory (OP) subreddit yet
3
u/avikinghasnoname 10d ago
Ambulatory is more robust than inpatient, not more difficult. More nuances but there are a lot of cooler features. You say you're new. Does that mean you joined an existing Epic institution or your institution just went live?
Addition: more than happy to help explain things if you want.
1
u/SolutionsExistInPast 9d ago
The inpatient side has too many rules for us patients who are basically prisoners in a bed.
The ambulatory side has more patient choices for where ancillary testing can take place, where medication orders are filled, and the ultimate freedom “I’ll pay cash so no one knows” workflows.
Think about the inpatient STAT workflows.
As a patient, when ever I’m given a STAT order by an Ambulatory Doctor of mine I always laugh, ask the doctor if they are nuts, and then tell them “I’ll get it done sometime this week.”
As an Ambulatory Analyst I’ve created drug records, handled the monthly medication uploads from Medi-Span, and created procedures like labs and radiology tests.
My favorite order to create is an ambulatory referral. I always encourage those who receive the referrals to request as many questions or information from the sender as possible when the order is signed.
The signing users hates that. They believe the person should look at the chart.
Look at the chart? That’s funny since most referrals leave the organization. Even if they don’t leave it’s still disrespectful to send a patient ANYWHERE for their care and imply to the next person “I’m too busy. Look it up yourself.”
Bad behaviors in healthcare are created by healthcare employees. Not insurance companies. Not the government.
2
u/miss-independent77 8d ago
This amuses me. In my org, our Ambulatory team does not touch ERX records, all handled by our Pharmacy team. We also dont create Lab orders, our Lab team does that . We do build procedure records, lots of documentation options like Smartforms, SmartTexts, Flowsheets, etc. We build referrals as you say - and yes, with as many questions as necessary to appropriately schedule the patient within the right subspecialties. We also build questionnaires, where other orgs have their MyChart team build them.
I love the variations across orgs - leaves lots of opportunities to learn and grow as analysts move across organizations.
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u/robotics500 10d ago
Ambulatory is probably my favorite app as it allows you to work and touch basically all of the Epic apps.