What Sets Consulting Firms Apart for Epic Users

    OREM, UT, June 25, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Epic users are thirsting for strategy, technical, and implementation assistance from consultants, but not all firms are prepared to provide the expertise. That's according to the recently published KLAS report "Navigating the Sea of Epic Consulting Firms."

KLAS verified an unprecedented 46 firms doing Epic-related advisory, implementation, and staffing support work--with most receiving A- or B+ satisfaction scores from their customers. The findings indicate that every consulting firm in this recent study touts high-quality consultants. However, not everyone consistently produces the right resources at the right time. Some firms are scrambling to produce the necessary experts to assist with engagements. One CIO said, "It is a buyer's market out there, and finding the right people is crazy hard. Everybody is struggling with the ability to source people."

Firms who provide consultants with the right knowledge and expertise in the right numbers and who foster the right relationship with their clients set themselves apart in this growing and increasingly competitive market.

Additionally, not every firm can do it all. Differentiating the firms by the services they offer, the scope of their engagements, bench strength, how well they partner, and how consistently they deliver on expectations is important. To facilitate comparison among the firms, KLAS divided the consulting groups into four broad categories: lead implementation and advisory services, supportive implementation and advisory services, staffing and implementation support, and advisory only consulting services.

"Providers looking for assistance should first assess what kind of staff and consultants they need," stated Services Research Vice President Mike Smith. "Time is also a factor that should be added to the equation when considering a firm and its talent pool--as well as the scope of the firm's previous engagements and their track record."

The "Navigating the Sea of Epic Consulting Firms" report examines the performance, differentiators, and services provided by 26 fully rated consulting firms, including Accenture*, Aspen Advisors, Beacon Partners*, CSI Tech*, CSC, CTG, Deloitte, Dell Services, Encore, Hayes Management, HIA*, H/P Technologies*, Impact Advisors, Kurt Salmon*, maxIT, Nordic Consulting, OptumInsight*, Orchestrate*, Peer Consulting*, PwC*, Sagacious*, Santa Rosa*, Stoltenberg*, Virtelligence, Vitalize, and Xerox. Preliminary findings are also available for 20 additional firms that providers mentioned using.

The "Navigating the Sea of Epic Consulting Firms" report is available online to healthcare providers, vendors, and consultants by visiting www.KLASresearch.com/KLASreports. Providers receive a significant discount from the retail price and can share their consulting firm experiences online with KLAS at www.KLASresearch.com/eval.

*indicates early-data vendor

About KLAS
KLAS is a research firm specializing in monitoring and reporting on the performance of healthcare vendors. KLAS' mission is to improve healthcare delivery by independently measuring vendor performance worldwide for the benefit of our healthcare provider partners, consultants, investors, and vendors. Working together with executives from more than 4,500 hospitals and 2,500 clinics, KLAS delivers timely reports, trends, and statistics that provide a solid overview of vendor performance in the industry. KLAS measures performance of software, professional services, medical equipment, and infrastructure vendors. For more information, go to www.KLASresearch.com, email [email protected], or call 1-800-920-4109 to speak with a KLAS representative. Follow KLAS on Twitter at www.twitter.com/KLASresearch.

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