Farm Strong: Epic Services Firms

My grandfather homesteaded 365 acres in North Dakota in the early 1900s, raising a family of 10 children. Life on the farm was hard, according to “inspirational” stories my father would tell me on Saturday mornings. He would say that there was always plenty of work to do, like caring for horses, milking cows, planting and harvesting crops, stacking hay, and, my personal favorite, rocking a field (which is actually removing rocks from a field).

The farm life taught my father the value of a hard day’s work and the importance of doing his best, or in other words, being “farm strong.” These two characteristics remind me of the Epic services firms we have just evaluated. There has been significant growth in implementation work in the past two years, and undoubtedly, the firms listed in the study put an emphasis on providing the best service they can for healthcare providers.

Thirty-three firms were evaluated and included in a report on providing services in enterprise implementation, implementation support, staffing, go-live support, and advisory services. It is incredible to see the efforts these firms deliver. A three-point variance in the KLAS performance score can mean the difference between first and seventh place; a score of 90 out of 100 doesn’t necessarily mean a firm is the best in its respective service category.

The good news is that providers have several options they can look to for assistance. With so many good candidates, the challenge may be determining which firm is the right fit for your organization. If you are struggling with this issue, please take a look at our new report, “Epic Consulting 2014: The Bumper Crop of Epic Consulting Firms: How Do They Stack Up?”.  You can review the performance of the firms who are providing these services. You will find many of them are farm strong and deliver great services.