Transition to healthcare IT

[justwatchme555]

I’m currently a pharmacist and I have the opportunity to transition to a clinical application analyst for a hospital. However, the salary would be less.. but I wanted to know if there is any room for growth in that aspect & if you are enjoying the transition? Any regrets? Thanks!

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[gwarm01]

How much lower are we talking here? Usually hospitals will have pharmacist and non-pharmacist positions in IT, and you should be getting paid similarly to any other pharmacist in that role.

My salary has only gone up since making the switch. Don't let them tell you it's some sort of fair trade for an easier job, or a remote job, or any other excuse.

 

[justwatchme555]

How much lower are we talking here? Usually hospitals will have pharmacist and non-pharmacist positions in IT, and you should be getting paid similarly to any other pharmacist in that role.

My salary has only gone up since making the switch. Don't let them tell you it's some sort of fair trade for an easier job, or a remote job, or any other excuse.

Thanks for the reply! It’s about 10% differences.. I tried negotiating and they said in a couple of months , they would reevaluate for more..

 

[Alexis_pharmD]

thank you for this thread. I wanted to ask one thing. I currently work at Hospital. but my role is hybrid. I do discharge medication reconciliation for providers (because hospital had so many med errors at discharge). My role is to focus on reducing readmission for the hospital. And I work half the day in outpatient pharmacy as well. I was hired from outpatient budget and I rally like doing half and half role.
we have pharmacy IT opening at my health system. but i heard from a few people that they only consider rphs from inpatient experience. as eventually they make you go for EPIC willow certification.
Looks like my chances are almost slim to none. But the work is remote. I am willing to take pay cut as well. because I know that working a few years there will definitely open other doors for me. Plus my life priorities are different now and taking a pay cut will not affect me much.
I was a retail RXM for 5 years and contingent at LTC for a 2-3 years before coming to this system. I started this transition of care program at this hospital and it's running good so far. I get M-F schedule. Can anyone please provide me some guidance here? do they select RPH with retail and outpatient background for EPIC pharmacist? I have BCPS (not from residency-with 3 years of hospital exp). I really want to go for EPIC rph, but at the same time I don't want to apply and embarrass myself in the interview if they only select inpatient Rphs. Any thoughts or suggestions for me is highly appreciated.
thank you!

 

[TheBlaah]

thank you for this thread. I wanted to ask one thing. I currently work at Hospital. but my role is hybrid. I do discharge medication reconciliation for providers (because hospital had so many med errors at discharge). My role is to focus on reducing readmission for the hospital. And I work half the day in outpatient pharmacy as well. I was hired from outpatient budget and I rally like doing half and half role.
we have pharmacy IT opening at my health system. but i heard from a few people that they only consider rphs from inpatient experience. as eventually they make you go for EPIC willow certification.
Looks like my chances are almost slim to none. But the work is remote. I am willing to take pay cut as well. because I know that working a few years there will definitely open other doors for me. Plus my life priorities are different now and taking a pay cut will not affect me much.
I was a retail RXM for 5 years and contingent at LTC for a 2-3 years before coming to this system. I started this transition of care program at this hospital and it's running good so far. I get M-F schedule. Can anyone please provide me some guidance here? do they select RPH with retail and outpatient background for EPIC pharmacist? I have BCPS (not from residency-with 3 years of hospital exp). I really want to go for EPIC rph, but at the same time I don't want to apply and embarrass myself in the interview if they only select inpatient Rphs. Any thoughts or suggestions for me is highly appreciated.
thank you!

There's no harm in applying. I suggest you at least have a talk with management in order to get a better idea of the schedule/expectations of the job. After all, for all we know, you may be the only internal candidate.

As for your qualifications, it's a uphill battle. In all likelihood (at least in the hospitals I've been to), the inpatient pharmacists, particularly the evening/night shifts/hybrid shifts, are generally trained in nearly all aspects of the system *including* discharge medication reconciliation.

If there's internal competition, you'll be competing against people who simply knows the system better. Generally speaking, people who are computer savvy are able to compensate for this quickly for this type of position, but I do not know if that applies to you.

 

[Alexis_pharmD]

There's no harm in applying. I suggest you at least have a talk with management in order to get a better idea of the schedule/expectations of the job. After all, for all we know, you may be the only internal candidate.

As for your qualifications, it's a uphill battle. In all likelihood (at least in the hospitals I've been to), the inpatient pharmacists, particularly the evening/night shifts/hybrid shifts, are generally trained in nearly all aspects of the system *including* discharge medication reconciliation.

If there's internal competition, you'll be competing against people who simply knows the system better. Generally speaking, people who are computer savvy are able to compensate for this quickly for this type of position, but I do not know if that applies to you.

thank you for your reply. Yes, I am trying to get in touch with someone who can explain me the role or improve my chances to altleast get an interview. Unfortunately I am not the only internal candidate. I am sure, there are other rphs applied for it as well. I think I am the only outpatient one.
Yes, of course IP rph has more advantage over me. All I have to say in my defense is that I am tech savvy. It doesn't take me too long to understand a new system. Infect when I was hired they only gave me one day training at training center and put me to shadow rph for 2 days. After that I was by myself. To be honest EPIC is very easy to learn. most of the stuff is self explanatory. I am trying to learn coding on the side. Just from free resources. (I know it doesn't mean anything for EPIC rph but I always wanted to learn).
It's really hard to get my feet in to epic door. I just need someone to trust me that I can learn and show my worth. System wide they have only 5-6 epic rphs. And this opening never comes unless someone retires. Internal influence plays a huge role in the selection too. My entire dept knows that I have applied for this. (thanks to my supervisor of course) So not getting even an interview is little bit embarrassing.
but as you said there is no harm in applying, so may be I will leave it as it is.
thank you again for your reply.
AS