What’s your rate? Want to go FTE W2, All-Inclusive, 1099, or Corp-to-Corp?

Welcome to My EMR Road Warrior Journal, read about experiences I have endured over these past six years as a traveling Certified EMR Consultant.  How would you respond to the questions posed above?  Before you answer, make sure you really know your true worth in today’s Healthcare Information Technology (IT) job market.  Before you reply to that recruiter’s email request for your resume, and before you allow an agency to present you to a hospital or clinic client, make sure you know your options and what the total opportunity consists of.  Learn the best direction to travel down the road to being a successful Healthcare IT Consultant or EMR application employee.

How?  Read and respond to my tips about staying engaged in this specific EMR / EHR job industry “evolution” – happy, healthy, and gainfully employed.  Speaking of being gainfully employed in today’s job market,  right now it’s all about the “money.”  On the front burner is the “Stimulus Package”, the “Jobs Bill”, and new tax cuts for Small Business owners (and please “no worries” about Healthcare Reform…the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds are already out of the “gate!”) And more good news for us, we are Healthcare IT folks!  So what are you doing to make sure you’re in the right place for the right job?

My next blog will feature – EMR RW v.1 – Know Your Worth and Be Prepared™ – This first series will include:

  • Part 1)  Define your EMR job market “worth” and your options. (know how to properly negotiate your rate or annual salary and how to get what you deserve)
  • Part 2)  Gain knowledge of who you are dealing with, before you allow them to represent you to a perspective employer.
  • Part 3)  Tips for contract or salary negotiations – get the facts before you sign!
  • Part 4)  Next Steps – Get prepared for your entry or advancement into the EMR job industry.

Now get ready to cut and paste the following words and terms to create your very own ‘RW’ Journal:

All Inclusive Rate – Includes your hourly rate, plus your expenses.

Contractor or Consultant – An individual who enters into a mutually agreeable professional contract that details the rate your services will be performed (usually based on an hourly dollar figure), the terms and other legal binding statements.

FTE  W2– Full Time Employee. Includes benefits paid by Employer.

1099 – Income tax reporting status utilized by independent contractors.  Benefits, taxes paid by contractor.

Corp to Corp – Professional contract agreements that can be established between a Job Placement Company and a Consultant (each must be a legal federally registered entity (i.e. Corporation, Limited Liability Corporation (LLC), Partnership, etc.)

EMR – Electronic Medical Records or EHR – Electronic Health Records.  Both terms are sometimes used interchangeably.  An electronic health record (EHR) (also electronic patient record, electronic medical record or computerized patient record) is an evolving concept defined as a longitudinal collection of electronic health information about individual patients or populations. It is a record in digital format that is capable of being shared across different health care settings, by being embedded in network-connected enterprise-wide information systems. Such records may include a whole range of data in comprehensive or summary form, including demographics, medical history, medication and allergies, immunization status, laboratory test results, radiology images, and billing information. It is important to note that an EHR is generated and maintained within an institution, such as a hospital, integrated delivery network, clinic, or physician office.

My hope is that sharing  My EMR Road Warrior Journal experiences will help you understand and maximize yours!

About the author

Shirley Corsey

Shirley Corsey is a certified Electronic Medical Records (EMR) Consultant/Road Warrior, and owner of her own online training center for the Healthcare Information Technology industry. She is a seasoned Healthcare IT professional with over 25 years experience, with a recent career focus for the past 9 years in the EMR job market.

10 Comments

  • Shirley,

    What an excellent start to what I think will be a fabulous series for all involved in EMR work. Thank you for taking on this challenge! I am eagerly awaiting your next installment!

    Rhonda

  • Hey Rhonda,

    From one “RW” to another I belieive you can relate to what I’m seeking to share. We need to look out for others like us and those who are seeking to enter this way of professional life. Thanks!

  • I have 18 years of IT experience and 9 of those years have been in Healthcare IT with the Implementation of Allscripts EMR. Could you help point me in the right direction to get EMR certified to become a consultant, mainly in the SouthEast. Thank you for your great information.

  • […] For over two years here at HealthcareITToday, I have chronicled my experiences as a Vendor Certified Healthcare Information Technology Consultant – providing details, advice, and what my work life is like, specifically in the Electronic Medical Records (EMR) job industry from my first hand knowledge. Most of this information I have provided has been based mainly from my sometimes humorous (…I think), or technical and practical perspective regarding what I do. Yesterday, as I traveled on Merritt Parkway (Route 15) going south to Westport, Connecticut, I realized this client site location (and surrounding area) is one of the most beautiful I’ve experienced in quite sometime. This Epic Systems – EMR Clinical Applications Implementation contract assignment, I’m currently engaged is with a prestigious hospital client up on the northeast coast (New England area). We are about 4 weeks away from go-live (the date the clinical system is available for it’s actual usage by all individuals involved in the patients’ care). My tasks for this particular EMR Implementation contract assignment includes me visiting many of the lab draw station clinics that collect this healthcare facility patients’ lab work. Therefore, between last week and this week I’ve been traveling all around this New England area’s highways and byways from each town to the next. I spend anywhere from 30 minutes to 45 minutes at each of these lab draw station locations, meeting with the lab technician at each site and expediting what we call the clinical system’s “walk-through.” This one is based on this particular lab order requisition “workflow.”   These tasks are completed to ensure the process is working as designed, prior to go-live. Maybe because the weather has suddenly “sprung into spring” out here on the east coast and it has created a delightful environment for these site visits, or maybe due to this particular contract assignment duty, I’m getting an opportunity to see more of this hospital client’s geography…or just maybe it’s because I’m older and wiser and have been blessed with this opportunity to have a pretty good balance between my work and personal life – and I appreciate it ALL so much more, as I’m able to put my life into proper perspective!  Whatever the reasons – my views from the road at these quaint towns of neat and tidy homes situated on hillsides, woods, and near various waterways – is the most charming site visits I’ve encountered over the past several years as an EMR Consultant and “Road Warrior”. […]

  • […] Be sure that what’s written, is what was agreed upon verbally by you and the recruiter. Also be sure other statements in this agreement detail your expenses reimbursement. Make sure know your pay term (W2, 1099, corp-to-corp, etc. and you are aware of what each of these terms entail. […]

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