Epic Skills Assessment Role-Based Scenario Problems 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A hospital pharmacist receives an Epic alert that a patient's renal function (GFR) is critically low but the ordered antibiotic dose has not been adjusted. What is the pharmacist's role-appropriate response?
- Dispense the standard dose since the physician ordered it
- Contact the prescribing physician through Epic's In Basket or phone to recommend renal dose adjustment (Correct answer)
- Reduce the dose without notifying the physician
- Document the concern in a sticky note and dispense
Correct answer: Contact the prescribing physician through Epic's In Basket or phone to recommend renal dose adjustment
Pharmacists must communicate dose adjustment recommendations to the prescriber through appropriate channels before any dispensing occurs.
Question 2: A billing specialist finds that a claim was denied because an authorization number is missing in Epic. What is the best resolution path?
- Resubmit the claim without the authorization number and hope for approval
- Obtain the authorization from the insurer and update the authorization field in Epic before resubmitting (Correct answer)
- Write off the claim as uncollectible
- Transfer the account to collections immediately
Correct answer: Obtain the authorization from the insurer and update the authorization field in Epic before resubmitting
The specialist must obtain the valid authorization number, enter it into Epic's authorization fields, and then resubmit the corrected claim.
Question 3: A clinical documentation improvement (CDI) specialist reviews a note that lists 'sepsis' in the assessment but the criteria in the chart support only 'sepsis due to UTI.' What should the CDI specialist do?
- Change the diagnosis in the chart to the more specific term without querying
- Leave the documentation as is to avoid bothering the physician
- Send a concurrent query to the physician requesting clarification of the causative organism (Correct answer)
- Code sepsis without specifying etiology
Correct answer: Send a concurrent query to the physician requesting clarification of the causative organism
A concurrent CDI query allows the physician to add etiology specificity, which improves coding accuracy and case mix index.
Question 4: A home health nurse needs to access a patient's Epic record while visiting the patient's home. What access method is most appropriate?
- Log in as a colleague who has the patient assigned
- Use Epic Haiku or the authorized mobile application with VPN if required (Correct answer)
- Wait until returning to the office to document
- Call the hospital to have someone else enter the notes
Correct answer: Use Epic Haiku or the authorized mobile application with VPN if required
Epic Haiku and authorized mobile applications provide secure role-appropriate access to patient records in remote settings.
Question 5: A patient access representative is asked to schedule a follow-up appointment in Epic for a specialist who is not in the system. What is the correct action?
- Create a new provider record independently
- Schedule under the closest available specialty
- Notify the scheduling or credentialing team so the provider can be added through proper channels (Correct answer)
- Tell the patient to call the specialist's office directly and mark the task complete
Correct answer: Notify the scheduling or credentialing team so the provider can be added through proper channels
Adding new providers to Epic must go through credentialing and system administration to maintain data integrity and compliance.
Question 6: A nurse practitioner orders a medication in Epic for a patient who is currently admitted under a different supervising physician than usual. What must the NP verify before signing the order?
- That the patient's preferred pharmacy is on file
- That the cosignature or collaborative agreement requirement is met for the covering physician (Correct answer)
- That the patient's room assignment matches the order
- That the medication is covered by the patient's insurance
Correct answer: That the cosignature or collaborative agreement requirement is met for the covering physician
NP orders may require cosignature by a supervising or covering physician depending on state law and facility policy, which must be confirmed in Epic's order settings.
Question 7: An Epic analyst notices that a clinical decision support (CDS) alert is firing for 100% of orders in a category, regardless of clinical relevance. What is the likely problem?
- The alert is working correctly and all those orders are unsafe
- The alert logic or trigger criteria are misconfigured, causing it to fire indiscriminately (Correct answer)
- Users are overriding alerts too infrequently
- The database connection to the pharmacy module is broken
Correct answer: The alert logic or trigger criteria are misconfigured, causing it to fire indiscriminately
An alert that fires on every order in a category typically indicates a misconfigured trigger condition or overly broad logic that needs to be refined.
Epic Skills Assessment Role-Based Scenario Problems 3
A hospital pharmacist receives an Epic alert that a patient's renal function (GFR) is critically low but the ordered antibiotic dose has not been adjusted.
What is the pharmacist's role-appropriate response?