Epic Skills Assessment System & Workflow Analysis Questions and Answers 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In Epic's patient registration workflow, which identifier is permanent and uniquely identifies a patient across all encounters?
- Encounter number (CSN)
- Order number
- Medical Record Number (MRN) (Correct answer)
- Insurance ID
Correct answer: Medical Record Number (MRN)
The MRN (Medical Record Number) is the permanent, enterprise-wide patient identifier in Epic. The CSN (Contact Serial Number) is per-encounter.
Epic's Master Patient Index (MPI) assigns one MRN per patient at first registration. This number persists across all encounters, departments, and health system sites. The CSN is created at each contact (visit, call, message). Understanding MRN vs. CSN is foundational to Epic system architecture and affects how data is linked in reporting and clinical workflows.
Question 2: A hospital implements a new order set in Epic for sepsis management. Which governance process should precede go-live?
- Deploy directly to production after building
- Approval by clinical informatics, pharmacy, and physician stakeholders; then testing in a non-production environment (Correct answer)
- Deploy to one provider only for testing
- Skip testing if the order set is evidence-based
Correct answer: Approval by clinical informatics, pharmacy, and physician stakeholders; then testing in a non-production environment
Clinical content must go through governance review, multidisciplinary approval, and QA testing in a test environment before production deployment.
Epic environments include SUP (support/training), QA (quality assurance), and PRD (production). New order sets require: content build in QA → clinical review by physician leads, pharmacists, and informatics → approval documentation → testing with scripted scenarios → change management communication → go-live with monitoring. Skipping this process risks patient harm from untested clinical logic.
Question 3: What is the purpose of Epic's 'Downtime Procedures' module?
- To schedule system upgrades
- To provide read-only access and paper-based workflows during system outages (Correct answer)
- To archive old patient records
- To train new users in a safe environment
Correct answer: To provide read-only access and paper-based workflows during system outages
Downtime procedures provide access to pre-printed or read-only downtime reports so clinical care can continue safely when Epic is unavailable.
Epic's Downtime Application (EPICS) provides a read-only web interface to recent patient data during planned or unplanned outages. Additionally, 'downtime packets' are pre-printed for active patients, containing current medications, allergies, and recent labs. This ensures clinical workflows continue safely. Downtime planning is a critical system administration and patient safety responsibility.
Question 4: In Epic's Care Everywhere network (eHealth Exchange), what is being shared between organizations?
- Financial claims data only
- Patient clinical records including notes, labs, imaging, and medications (Correct answer)
- Internal staff scheduling data
- Hospital billing rates
Correct answer: Patient clinical records including notes, labs, imaging, and medications
Care Everywhere enables sharing of clinical records (notes, labs, results, medication lists) between Epic and non-Epic organizations using standards like HL7, FHIR, and CDA.
Epic's Care Everywhere is an interoperability platform that allows healthcare organizations to query and receive patient clinical records from external organizations. It uses CommonWell, Carequality, and eHealth Exchange networks. Shared data includes CCDs (Continuity of Care Documents) with diagnoses, medications, allergies, procedures, and results. This is critical for transitions of care and avoiding duplicate testing.
Question 5: Which Epic module handles charge capture and ensures services rendered are billed to payers correctly?
- Epic MyChart
- Epic Resolute Billing (Correct answer)
- Epic OpTime
- Epic Stork
Correct answer: Epic Resolute Billing
Epic Resolute is the billing module — covering professional billing (Resolute PB) and hospital billing (Resolute HB) for charge capture, claim submission, and payment processing.
Epic Resolute handles the full revenue cycle: charge capture (automatically from clinical documentation or manual), claim scrubbing, electronic claim submission to payers, remittance processing, and denial management. OpTime is the surgical module, Stork is the obstetrics module, and MyChart is the patient portal. Understanding module roles is foundational to Epic system navigation.
Question 6: A clinical workflow analysis reveals that nurses are spending 20 extra minutes per shift navigating between multiple Epic screens. What Epic feature could most improve this?
- Adding more patient records
- Customizing a personalized workflow using Epic's Activity Tabs and workspace configuration (Correct answer)
- Increasing screen brightness
- Printing more paper charts
Correct answer: Customizing a personalized workflow using Epic's Activity Tabs and workspace configuration
Epic's workspace customization (activity tabs, preferred views, SmartTools) allows users to configure their environment for maximum efficiency, reducing unnecessary navigation.
Epic provides extensive personalization: Activity Tabs group commonly used functions, the Welcome Screen can show today's schedule, SmartPhrases reduce typing, and preference lists limit medication or order searches. Workflow analysis that identifies inefficiency should lead to workspace optimization projects. This is a core focus of Epic's Hyperspace user experience design and optimization training for super users.
Epic Skills Assessment System & Workflow Analysis Questions and Answers 2
In Epic's patient registration workflow, which identifier is permanent and uniquely identifies a patient across all encounters?