System & Workflow Analysis Flashcards
7 cards from real Epic Skills Assessment practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 System & Workflow Analysis flashcards as text
A clinical analyst is mapping an Epic emergency department triage workflow and discovers that a mandatory BestPractice Advisory fires for every patient regardless of chief complaint. This is MOST likely an example of:
Answer: Alert fatigue caused by a poorly targeted BPA, which may lead staff to dismiss all alerts including critical ones
BPAs that fire indiscriminately contribute to alert fatigue, reducing their clinical value and increasing the risk that important alerts will be ignored.
When performing a workflow analysis for an Epic Ambulatory implementation, an analyst finds that the current paper-based referral process involves 14 manual steps. After mapping the future-state Epic workflow, the count drops to 6 steps. This reduction is BEST measured using which metric?
Answer: Process cycle efficiency, comparing steps eliminated as a proportion of the original workflow
Process cycle efficiency quantifies the reduction in steps or waste, providing a concrete measure of workflow simplification achieved through Epic.
An analyst needs to determine which Epic users are accessing a specific workflow feature but have not completed required training. Which data sources should be combined to answer this question?
Answer: Epic audit logs showing feature usage and the LMS training completion records for those users
Combining Epic audit logs (who used the feature) with LMS training records (who completed training) identifies the at-risk user population.
A patient safety officer asks an analyst to identify Epic workflows where critical lab result notifications could be missed. The MOST systematic approach is to:
Answer: Map all result notification touchpoints in Epic (In Basket, paging, BPAs) and trace each pathway to identify failure modes
Systematically mapping every notification pathway and tracing failure modes provides comprehensive coverage of gaps rather than relying on anecdotes or partial data.
An organization is evaluating whether to redesign its Epic surgical scheduling workflow. Which framework is MOST appropriate for structuring the analysis?
Answer: A Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) or DMAIC cycle to define the problem, measure current performance, analyze root causes, improve, and control changes
PDSA and DMAIC are structured quality improvement frameworks that ensure data-driven decision-making throughout the workflow redesign process.
After an Epic upgrade, users report that a previously efficient charge capture workflow now requires additional steps. The analyst's FIRST action should be:
Answer: Reproduce the issue in a test environment and compare the pre- and post-upgrade build configurations to identify what changed
Reproducing the issue in a test environment and doing a configuration comparison isolates whether the change is a build regression, a new default, or an intentional design change.
A workflow analyst is asked to prioritize three proposed Epic workflow improvements with limited implementation resources. Which prioritization criterion is MOST aligned with healthcare system goals?
Answer: Impact on patient safety and quality outcomes, weighed against implementation complexity and resource cost
Prioritizing by patient safety and quality impact while accounting for feasibility ensures resources are allocated to the highest-value, risk-adjusted improvements.