“Certified” Consulting Firms and Epic Systems A Commonly Misunderstood Relationship

There is a great deal of confusion surrounding the nature of the relationship between Epic and consulting firms including Santa Rosa Consulting.  Epic clients frequently refer to “certified consulting firms” or “partner consulting firms.”  According to Epic, neither of these phrases accurately depict their working relationships with consulting companies.  Its important that both clients and consulting companies understand the true nature of Epic’s intent.  Failure on the part of clients to understand this fully may deprive them of viable resources, and failure on the part of consulting companies can lead to displeasure on Epic’s part if the vendor perceives that the consulting firm is trying to take undue advantage of their relationship.

Relationships and Terminology

• There are no Epic consulting “partners.”  Period.  Epic dislikes the term altogether.  They neither refer clients to specific consulting firms, nor favor one firm over another. 
• There are no Epic-certified consulting companies.”  Only consultants themselves are certified, not their host companies or employers.  Epic makes it very clear that only they, the vendor, can certify consultants and they do NOT certify consulting companies.
• There are only two differences between any consulting firm shown on Epic’s web site and those who have formal agreements with Epic but are not shown on their web site, such as my own employer, Santa Rosa Consulting:
  • The listing on the web site itself – more on this in a moment
  • The ability to send non-certified or non-current certified consultants to training without a specific client request – Santa Rosa Consulting and other like firms CAN send certified and current consultants to additional certification training
• Santa Rosa Consulting and some other consulting firms have a similar written Agreement with Epic as any vendor shown under the “Certified Consultants” link on Epic’s web site.  This is a non-client specific Agreement which means it remains in place regardless of where Santa Rosa Consulting’s  -  or firms with like agreements -  consultants are working (or not working) at Epic client sites.  Other  firms or individual consultants may have client-specific Agreements with Epic that cover only one client at a time and must be renewed/replaced for additional or different clients.
• The path to being listed on Epic’s web site is one of multiple, successful engagements where the non-listed consulting firm satisfies the client AND the Epic implementation team, either or both of whom notify Consulting Relations that good work has been done.  As Santa Rosa Consulting does such work over the next 12 to 18 months we will be earning the right to approach Epic again regarding a web site listing.

So, to recap:  “Epic has no consulting “partners,”only firms they work with, and if they worked with the firm for a period of time with good results, they get placed on the web site listing.  Likewise, consulting firms are not “certified” by Epic, though individual consultants are certified.  Only Epic can anoint a consultant as being certified.  I hope this clarifies the different natures of Epics various agreements with consulting companies.  Should you have any questions, please contact Steve Deutchman, Epic Practice Manager, Santa Rosa Consulting, via e-mail – stevedeutchman@santarosaconsulting.com – or at 321-438-0145.