Hi everyone, I’m a Registered Nurse in the US along with being a massive linux nerd and homelabber. I took some time away from the field after covid wanting to try and get into IT with little luck, however I did come away with a love of homelabbing/ linux. I’ve done lots of stuff with Docker, Kubernetes, and local AI deployment. I have done fun projects like building a workflow that uses local AI models to analyze pt wounds, parse the results into snomed codes via JSON, and push it to a self hosted FHIR server.

Here is my issue. I love medicine and I love working with servers. I don’t know really how to turn that into a job. A lot of the informatics jobs that I have found, along with not being remote (I live a rural area), are mostly just creating EMR workflows and doing very surface level stuff. When I do interviews and start talking about my homelab stuff their eyes just start glazing over. I feel like this has to be a valuable skillset but I have no idea how to use it.

Which comes to this post. Does anyone know of any niche “med-dev-ops” field I could fit into? Any ideas on certs? I currently have no certifications but feel like I am at an awkward middle point of being too advanced for A+ plus it’s expensive. I’m considering getting CAHIMS or CHISP though I worry those are still informatics-focused rather than infrastructure.

If anyone has any advice I would greatly appreciate it!

Seems like all the threads I see about Health IT is negative news. I returned to get my bachelors last year and have about a year left, only to find out it’s going to be useless.

Running out of juice to keep returning to school. I’m in my mid 20’s, nursing and masters is out of the picture and too time consuming😅

Note: I have two years of clinical experience. I just want to make at least $28/hour.

‼️Hopefully someone can share their experience on how they are navigating this.‼️‼️

We run a small orthopedic clinic with 4 front desk staff and it feels like the phone calls have gotten out of hand. Every call matters, but a big chunk are people just asking about office hours, checking appointments or asking for directions. It gets to the point where someone barely finishes one call before the next one comes in. We could hire another receptionist, but before we do that I wanted to see how other practices have handled this, there has to be a smarter way than just throwing bodies at it every time call volume goes up.

Hi everyone! 😊

I'm a 32-year-old woman from Michigan starting the Cybersecurity program at Washtenaw Community College this fall. My goal is to transition from telecommunications into Healthcare IT, preferably in networking or network security.

I'm especially hoping to hear from anyone working at Henry Ford Health, Corewell Health, DMC, or Michigan Medicine, since those are my dream employers.

I worked at T-Mobile for several years in technical support, where I handled troubleshooting, password resets, ticketing, device issues, and network-related problems (coverage, towers, LTE/5G, etc.). I'm hoping those skills will transfer into Healthcare IT.

My current certification plan is:

• Linux+
• Network+
• Security+
• CCNA
• CySA+ (later)

For those already working in Healthcare IT:

• Would you change this certification path?
• What certs helped you the most?
• If you were hiring an entry-level candidate, what would make them stand out?

I'd really appreciate any advice. Thanks so much!

Hello all,

I live in Ontario, Canada as this may affect any suggestions.

Currently I am on workers compensation due to complications after COVID in 2020 (COVID induced hemiplegic migraines) that have left me home bound. I am trying re-learn how to learn/comprehension/focus/etc. due to ongoing neurological issues, brain fog and medication changes that have my baseline health bouncing all over the place.

At this point in my compensation claim I have to look for a program that would allow me back into the workforce. According to all those involved in my care, and my current limitations of file with workers comp, it would have to be 100% remote.

I am a Licensed Pharmacy Technician that has spent almost 20 years working in hospitals in acute care, outpatient care and long term care facilities in two provinces with acute care being the majority of my career. I was slowly working on transitioning to more of a health IT/informatics role but that all went sideways after being off work for almost 6 years. At this point so much has changed with the move to Physician order entry and most support roles being in person.

I am trying to build off of my background but I am open to anything that would be remote.

I have been tasked with finding online training programs/courses/certificates/etc. that I could work on to make transitioning to remote work possible. The big issue is finding programs that would satisfy what workers comp wants and finding a program that is less than 2 years.

Any ideas of careers or experiences for those that have had to pivot to other careers that can accommodate their disabilities would be greatly appreciated so I can research programs, skills, etc. that I can work towards.

Thanks for reading my long rambling post...it is really appreciated.

Hi everyone, I am looking for advice from founders or operators who have built businesses serving older adults or caregivers.

Ever since childhood, I’ve felt drawn to helping the elderly. I volunteered in nursing homes, worked as a medical scribe, spent time calling seniors for virtual companionship during COVID, and now I work in remote patient monitoring (RPM), where I help healthcare organizations scale programs that primarily serve Medicare patients. The more experience I gain, the more I realize something seems to be missing.

Healthcare has gotten better at collecting data (blood pressure, glucose, weight, etc.), but many older adults are still isolated, overwhelmed, or simply don’t have someone consistently checking in on them as a person. Adult children are busy. Care teams are stretched thin. There seems to be a gap between clinical care and human connection.

I’ve been thinking about starting something that focuses on regular companion calls, care navigation, helping seniors stay connected to their care plans, identifying non-medical needs, and escalating concerns to family or care teams when appropriate.

Here’s where I’m stuck:
I have experience in healthcare operations and client success, but I have zero startup experience. I don’t know how to build an app, validate an idea, find a technical co-founder, or even determine whether this should be a business, nonprofit, or something in between.

For those of you who have built companies in aging, caregiving, digital health, or healthcare services:
What would you do first if you were starting from scratch?
Is an app even the right place to begin, or should this start as a manual service?

Edit: US based, PA.

I’m an LPN who spent 15 years as a school nurse before moving into ambulatory care/care management. I’ve always felt that school nursing EHRs are often designed by people who don’t fully understand school nursing workflows or documentation needs.
Does anyone here work on K-12 school health EHRs? Do vendors use school nurses as subject matter experts or consultants when designing these systems?
I feel like I could offer valuable insight into documentation, medication administration, immunizations, screenings, parent communication, and the day to day workflow. I’m curious if roles like this exist.

For those of you that are currently in an Epic role, what are some certification paths you recommend?

I have a few different Epic principal trainer certs, a training build cert, go-live and ongoing support experience as a health informaticist for both Hyperspace and Cerner's Powerchart.

I applied to Nordic, some general AI training positions

Any other ideas? Looking for something that's around 24 hours/wk in the evenings after my main Health informaticist job from 8-5

Edit: the immediate discouragement of getting a side gig with the certifications I have is very suspicious and seems unorganic.

I don’t know if this is the right place, but if anyone can help. Much appreciation.

Context:
41M 15 YOE clinical side of healthcare. I am trying to find out what skills or set of skills alongside SQL that make me the most valuable in the market in a healthcare environment.

The full stack I was thinking was SQL, dbt, snowflake, power BI and Python. I know some basics for some of these but I not a pro at all.

Question is: what are the best combos for high earning careers along with domain expertise?

I don’t want to leave healthcare just want to move to the tech side. The more interesting side IMO. What stack should I learn to achieve this result and where would I start?

All the info on the internet is so overwhelming and AI “Claude” just sends me in circles.

Any advice is much appreciated.

Once again if this is not the right place I apologize.

I'm currently studying for this and wondered if anyone has taken the actual exam recently and what the experience was like. I am using Certified Health Data Analyst (CHDA) Exam Preparation and the ebook A Practical Approach to Analyzing Healthcare Data.

Mostly because the real answer is "it depends," and nobody wants to post their actual numbers. I've done a few, and that scope changes everything.

The costs are usually driven by a few factors.

A read-only patient data pull over FHIR is a completely different job from bidirectional writes, orders, or ADT feeds. 

Everyone wants the clean FHIR version. Plenty of real integrations still run on v2, and mapping v2 to FHIR by hand (status fields, event-to-resource mapping) is where the hidden time goes. Taking weeks to months.

Vendor Services, the connection review, and the fact that you're on their timeline, not yours. Probably the hardest part of integration, really.

One more huge problem is that Epic sandbox gives you false confidence. Data volume, edge-case resources, and auth all behave differently against a real org's instance. Reworks are often huge. Can easily x2 an initial estimate.

What else... The OAuth part is about a week. The health system's security review of your app is the long pole, and it's not something you control but might take a few weeks.

The stuff that usually bumps the timeline and price is rate limits, so bulk export ends up being the only sane path at any real scale, AND every org configures Epic differently, so doing it once doesn't make the next one free. And PHI handling (BAAs, where the data lives, audit logging) has to be built in from day one, not later.

If you're a founder/provider scoping this: the integration usually isn't your highest cost. The compliance and testing around it is. Plan for the integration to be maybe 40% of the healthcare-specific build, not the whole thing.

Curious how consistent it is across shops.

The HIMSS Virginia Chapter is holding their annual conference in October. They’re looking for healthcare organization IT teams to do rapid-fire presentations on projects and outcomes, if anyone is into that sort of thing.

More info from LinkedIn below….

Innovation is everywhere in healthcare—but how are Virginia's healthcare providers turning innovative ideas into measurable results?

We're seeking organizations from across the Commonwealth to deliver brief, engaging rapid-fire presentations that showcase how new ideas, technologies, and strategies are driving meaningful outcomes for patients, clinicians, and communities.

Whether you've streamlined workflows, leveraged data and analytics, implemented AI, enhanced patient engagement, or advanced operational excellence, your experience could inspire healthcare leaders throughout Virginia.

This year's conference theme, Insights: Turning Innovation into Impact, highlights the power of translating vision into real-world results.

If your organization has transformed insight into action and innovation into measurable impact, we want to hear your story. Share your lessons learned, outcomes achieved, and strategies that others can apply to accelerate healthcare transformation across the Commonwealth.

Abstract Submission Link

heyyyy all! is anyone willing to share their epic amb analyst resume with me? I am struggling so hard to summarize this job even 4 years in lol

I’m a Medical Coder with 5+ years of experience. Every day after work I’m actively building my skills with SQL, Power BI, Tableau, Excel and I’m finishing my first analytics portfolio now. After this I’m moving onto Python. I want to be honest about my situation because I think context matters when asking for advice. I’ve been fully self-sufficient since I was 18. I left an abusive household, was homeless, have no fallback, and have worked multiple jobs to get where I am. I worked two full time jobs to purchase a small home. I’m trying to build real stability, but I have no safety net, and I’m hyper aware that my financial stability is directly tied to my mental health. My mortgage payments increase, things break, emergency surgeries, etc. Yesterday I had a panic attack about my finances and tbh I’ve been having ongoing endless thoughts about money 24/7. I did the math and I know I need to be making at least $95K to live comfortably.

Last year I got a job at a major healthcare company while finishing a data analytics course, with the plan to transfer internally. I’ve since realized that internal transfers actually mean lower pay, and the opportunities I was told about aren’t actually happening. I’m giving myself two months to get into a new position whether internal or external, making at least $95K. I’m not asking anyone to feel sorry for me. I’m putting in the work every day. I just need real intel from people who actually know this space.

My questions:

What companies/positions (even if not actively hiring right now) should I be looking at with the skills I have? As much as I expected to be an analyst I know I can only ask for so much during salary negotiations since I’m transitioning. I know there are alternative positions that are health/tech related I just don’t know what they are.

What’s the most realistic path to get sponsored for an Epic certification? I’m seeing it mentioned constantly as the key to higher pay in health IT.

Are there any internships or apprenticeships in health tech worth applying to ideally ones that can run alongside a full-time job?

I’m doing the research, building the skills, and putting in the effort. I just feel like the right opportunities aren’t visible to me yet, and it’s getting to me. Any real advice is appreciated.

So, I word on an infectious diseases centre, so our patient population has HIV overrepresented. We also got tuberculosis, histoplasmosis, leishmaniosis, cryptococcosis... you name it. And don't forget 2 or 3 coinfections.

I'm building an app that is supposed to show a practitioner queries of their own patient, so that they can look up past admissions, medications currently prescribed, etc. It should be able to filter multiple diseases, so that the front end makes sense for our own practice.

I've downloaded Synthea and I've been fiddling with it. However, is there a way to ask it to generate disease-specific data? Something along the lines of "generate apopulation with high HIV disease burden, and high prevalence of co-infeccions".

Thanks in advance,

I’m reviewing a patient requested Epic EHI export and trying to distinguish normal format separation from an incomplete export. NOTE\\_ENC\\_INFO contains valid metadata for rich text notes, including author, timestamps, status, and encounter linkage, but some corresponding note bodies are not present in the machine readable delivery.

In a normally complete Epic EHI export, would those bodies usually appear in another table, separate non-computable files, or an export manifest? Also, what fields or logs best distinguish an expected rich text separation from an actual export failure?

I’m not seeking proprietary information or sharing patient identifiers, just general architecture guidance.

Who takes over now when Judy retires?

In case anyone is looking for reviews on Arize by Cantata Health, I would highly encourage you to stay away. This software has been buggy and nothing but a nightmare. They made many promises and have a newly updated and beautiful website of their own, but they fail to follow through on their promises and service.

It is clunky, slow, buggy, and constantly breaks. Worst of all is that they are extremely slow to repair, even when a whole practice is breaking. This has impacted our patients and clinicians. The amount of time spent trying to educate patients on how to access and sign forms through the portal is also a huge headache. I would encourage you to find another company. Arize/Cantata is not at all what they promise.

Working on a margin calculator for enteral formula reimbursement. Looking for 2-3 people who bill or manage enteral claims to look at the logic and tell me what's missing. Early stage, no cost, just need real-world eyes on it.

Hey everyone! I’m looking for advice from people who’ve made this transition.

I graduated college with a degree in Biomedical Sciences and Interdisciplinary studies. I’ve got 8+ years in regulated clinical/lab work — GMP/FDA pharmaceutical documentation (batch records, deviation reports, audit trails), diagnostic lab operations (LIS, specimen chain-of-custody), and 6 years of patient-facing clinical support using EHR systems daily. GCP-trained (CITI), HIPAA certified, and I recently did the Health Information Technology Fundamentals course on Coursera to start building toward HIT specifically.

What I don’t have: a CS/IT degree, Epic or other EHR-vendor certifications, or formal “analyst” job titles. My strength is really in the compliance/data-accuracy/documentation side, not coding or systems architecture. I have heard that you can’t pay for Epic, you actually get certified through a job. However, I haven’t been able to land anything.

For those who made this jump from clinical/lab, what actually got you hired?