Healthcare organizations rely on Epic Systems to centralize patient data, improve clinical workflows, and enable regulatory compliance. It’s the most widely adopted electronic health record (EHR) system in the U.S., used by top hospitals and health networks to unify care delivery, billing, population health, and analytics. But deploying and maintaining Epic’s full potential is complex. Licensing the software is just step one. Without certified and experienced Epic professionals, most organizations struggle to keep up with the system’s demands.
Epic’s modules like Ambulatory, Inpatient, Radiant, Willow, and Resolute require deep technical and operational understanding. Whether you’re optimizing clinical documentation, integrating lab systems, or supporting go-lives, success depends on people who know the system inside and out. And that’s exactly where the challenge lies.
Why hiring Epic talent is so challenging
Hiring for Epic is challenging for three reasons: certification barriers, domain depth, and the scarcity of relevant experience.
- Limited certified talent pool: Epic strictly controls its certification process. An Epic client or partner must sponsor individuals to access training, and each certification is module-specific. This limits how many professionals are certified at any given time, and makes hiring from outside the Epic ecosystem extremely difficult.
- High specialization across modules: Epic is made up of dozens of modules. A specialist in Willow Inpatient is not automatically equipped to handle Beaker Lab or Resolute Professional Billing. Organizations often seek professionals who can cross multiple domains, but few meet that bar.
- Healthcare domain expertise is non-negotiable: Beyond system knowledge, Epic specialists must understand clinical workflows, provider operations, billing logic, HIPAA compliance, and reporting requirements like Meaningful Use or MIPS. Without this, system changes risk disrupting care or reimbursement
- Intense competition and high attrition: With most major health systems using Epic, demand for talent far exceeds supply. Contractors often jump between short-term roles, leading to retention issues, onboarding delays, and knowledge gaps between projects.
Core skills to look for in an Epic systems specialist
To deliver value, an Epic specialist must combine module-specific expertise with strong healthcare domain knowledge and hands-on implementation experience. Here’s what hiring teams should prioritize:
- Epic certification in target module(s): Must be certified in the specific module(s) needed: Ambulatory, Inpatient, Orders, Clarity Reporting, Bridges (integration), etc. Many roles require multiple certifications.
- Build and workflow configuration: Skilled in developing SmartForms, SmartSets, order sets, documentation tools, security templates, and workflow customizations based on end-user needs.
- Interfaces and integration (Epic Bridges / HL7): Experience building and maintaining HL7 interfaces with labs, imaging systems, billing engines, and external health exchanges. Strong familiarity with Bridges, Interconnect, and FHIR APIs is a must.
- Clarity/Caboodle reporting and analytics: Ability to extract actionable insights from Epic’s Clarity (SQL-based) and Caboodle (data warehouse) environments. This includes report building, data validation, and integration with BI tools.
- Go-Live support and change management: Familiar with go-live planning, training, issue triage, and post-launch stabilization. Experience working under high-pressure conditions in clinical settings.
- Regulatory and compliance insight: Knowledge of CMS guidelines, HIPAA rules, value-based care metrics, and audit requirements helps avoid legal and financial risk during configuration or upgrades.
Hiring challenges in the real world
Even with the right job description, hiring Epic talent is slow and competitive. Internal HR teams often lack visibility into Epic’s certification network. Standard recruiting channels (like job boards) underperform because most certified professionals are already employed, in high demand, or working contract roles through niche partners.
You can’t assess Epic skills through generic interviews. You need scenario-based evaluations example, walking through how a candidate would optimize a clinical documentation flow or resolve an interface failure during go-live.
Time-to-hire is often measured in months, not weeks. And once hired, professionals expect high compensation and often leave for better offers unless retention strategies are strong.
What works: smarter hiring strategies for Epic
To hire effectively, organizations need to change how they source, evaluate, and retain Epic professionals.
- Use Epic-certified staffing partners: Firms like Procom provide on-demand access to certified Epic talent across modules and specialties. These professionals are vetted, available faster, and come with experience in live hospital environments.
- Target professional networks, not job boards: Epic talent moves through word-of-mouth and referrals. Tap into alumni networks, user groups, or conferences like UGM (Epic’s User Group Meeting) to reach passive candidates.
- Implement practical assessments: Use module-specific tasks and real-world scenarios to test system knowledge and healthcare alignment. For example: how to build a SmartSet for post-op care, or optimize an HL7 interface with a lab vendor.
- Upskill internal staff: Nurses, analysts, and IT support staff already working in your environment may be strong candidates for sponsorship and Epic certification. This reduces onboarding time and improves retention.
- Offer purpose, not just pay: Epic professionals want to work on meaningful projects like go-lives, telehealth rollouts, or analytics transformations. Highlight opportunities for ownership, learning, and clinical impact.
Partner with an Epic staffing expert
Working with a partner like Procom gives your organization instant access to a vetted bench of Epic-certified consultants across modules like Ambulatory, Willow, Bridges, Clarity, and more. Whether you’re preparing for a major implementation, scaling support, or optimizing performance, Procom delivers certified, deployment-ready talent without the delays of full-time hiring.
This model works especially well for go-lives, EHR conversions, optimization projects, and interface overhauls. You get flexibility, control, and speed while avoiding burnout and resource gaps that can derail clinical operations.
