Epic Skills Assessment Role-Based Scenario Problems 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A respiratory therapist documents a ventilator setting change in Epic but the physician's order does not yet reflect the new parameters. What is the therapist's obligation?
- Proceed with the new settings since the documentation is complete
- Obtain a verbal or written order from the physician and ensure the order is updated in Epic to match the settings (Correct answer)
- Wait for the next shift to reconcile the discrepancy
- Ask a nurse to update the order on the physician's behalf
Correct answer: Obtain a verbal or written order from the physician and ensure the order is updated in Epic to match the settings
Any change to ventilator settings must be supported by a corresponding physician order; the RT must obtain and document that order before or immediately after implementing changes.
Question 2: A patient calls the clinic and tells the nurse that they received test results in MyChart that they do not understand, and they are anxious. What is the nurse's best first action in Epic?
- Tell the patient to message the physician through MyChart
- Pull up the result in Epic, review it in context, then call the patient back with a clear explanation or escalate to the physician if clinically significant (Correct answer)
- Dismiss the message and wait for the physician to respond
- Advise the patient to go to the emergency department
Correct answer: Pull up the result in Epic, review it in context, then call the patient back with a clear explanation or escalate to the physician if clinically significant
The nurse should review the result in context before responding to the patient, providing appropriate explanation or escalating to the physician based on clinical significance.
Question 3: An Epic super-user is training new registration staff and one trainee asks why they must verify the patient's identity using two identifiers before accessing any chart. What is the best explanation?
- It is a hospital preference, not a regulatory requirement
- Epic requires two-factor authentication to log in
- Two-identifier verification is a patient safety requirement under Joint Commission standards to prevent wrong-patient errors (Correct answer)
- It speeds up the registration workflow
Correct answer: Two-identifier verification is a patient safety requirement under Joint Commission standards to prevent wrong-patient errors
The Joint Commission mandates at least two patient identifiers before accessing or initiating any care, which applies equally to EHR access and clinical procedures.
Question 4: A behavioral health counselor documents a session note in Epic and must ensure it is protected under 42 CFR Part 2 (substance use disorder confidentiality). What must the counselor confirm?
- That the note is marked as a general progress note visible to all staff
- That the note is restricted using Epic's behavioral health/sensitive note confidentiality settings (Correct answer)
- That the note is sent to the patient via MyChart automatically
- That the note is co-signed by the attending physician
Correct answer: That the note is restricted using Epic's behavioral health/sensitive note confidentiality settings
Notes containing 42 CFR Part 2 protected information must be flagged with appropriate confidentiality restrictions in Epic to limit access to authorized personnel only.
Question 5: A hospital administrator reviews Epic's reporting workbench and finds that the door-to-balloon time for STEMI patients is consistently above the 90-minute benchmark. Which role is primarily responsible for investigating the Epic workflow contributing to this delay?
- The billing team, because charge capture is delayed
- The Epic analyst or clinical informaticist working with the cardiology and ED teams (Correct answer)
- The patient access team, because check-in is slow
- The pharmacy director, because medication orders are delayed
Correct answer: The Epic analyst or clinical informaticist working with the cardiology and ED teams
Door-to-balloon time optimization requires an Epic analyst and clinical informaticist to review the ED and cath lab workflows, order sets, and alert configurations.
Question 6: A floor nurse discovers that a colleague has been logging into Epic using another nurse's credentials to save time. What is the nurse's required action?
- Ignore it since no harm was done
- Report the behavior to the supervisor and compliance or security department (Correct answer)
- Warn the colleague privately and take no further action
- Change the colleague's password to prevent future misuse
Correct answer: Report the behavior to the supervisor and compliance or security department
Sharing login credentials is a serious HIPAA and security violation that must be reported to compliance, regardless of intent, to protect the organization and patients.
Question 7: An inpatient dietitian reviews a patient's Epic chart and sees that the physician ordered a low-sodium diet but the patient has a documented kidney disease requiring protein restriction. What is the dietitian's best action?
- Implement only the low-sodium diet as ordered
- Change the diet order to include protein restriction without notifying the physician
- Contact the physician through Epic's In Basket to recommend an updated diet order that addresses both needs (Correct answer)
- Document the concern in a sticky note and take no further action
Correct answer: Contact the physician through Epic's In Basket to recommend an updated diet order that addresses both needs
The dietitian should communicate their clinical recommendation to the physician through proper channels so the order can be updated to meet the patient's complete nutritional needs.
Epic Skills Assessment Role-Based Scenario Problems 5
A respiratory therapist documents a ventilator setting change in Epic but the physician's order does not yet reflect the new parameters.
What is the therapist's obligation?