Industry
Health System
Challenge
A large healthcare system with five hospitals and 200+ clinics running Epic needed a more scalable way to support Epic users without sending routine incidents, maintenance requests, and workflow questions through support paths that consumed advanced application analyst capacity. The existing model slowed optimization and implementation work and increased the cost of issues that could be resolved earlier with the right clinical and Epic expertise.
Results
CereCore’s Clinical Service Desk resolved 58% of Epic support calls before escalation, reduced the burden reaching advanced Epic application teams by 67%, and helped free approximately four FTEs for higher-value Epic optimization and implementation work. The model delivered direct labor savings while creating strategic capacity for clinical transformation. Together, these results reflect different layers of value: direct resolution, avoided escalation, improved routing, direct labor savings, and analyst capacity redirected to higher-value Epic work.
Services Provided
Clinical Help Desk, Epic, Integrated Testing, End-User Education
About the Provider
A large healthcare system operating five hospitals and 200+ clinics on the Epic EHR platform.Skilled Resources Consumed by Routine Work
The organization’s Epic application teams were absorbing a high volume of support tickets that could be resolved earlier with the right clinical and Epic workflow expertise. This created a compounding problem across three dimensions:
- Skilled analysts consumed by routine work — Advanced application team members spent significant time on tickets that could be resolved directly or routed more accurately with better clinical and Epic context, pulling skilled analysts away from higher-value initiatives.
- Project capacity constrained — Epic optimization and implementation initiatives were understaffed because analysts were tied up in support queues, slowing transformation timelines.
- Cost inefficiency — Higher-cost resources were handling work that didn't require their skill level, inflating the total cost of support operations. This was not only related to reactive incident management, but also general maintenance and testing that historically required Epic certified support individuals.
The organization needed a partner with clinical depth — not just a call center that logs and escalates, but a team capable of sorting Epic-related demand, resolving workflow issues directly, performing maintenance, and materially reducing the burden on internal teams.
CereCore Clinical Service Desk: Resolve, Not Just Route
CereCore deployed its Clinical Service Desk as an embedded extension of the organization’s Epic support operations. The team was purpose-built to resolve appropriate Epic workflow issues directly, improve routing accuracy, and reduce unnecessary escalation — not simply log and route tickets.
Core Capabilities Delivered
- Direct Epic Resolution — Clinically trained Epic-proficient analysts resolve appropriate Epic workflow issues directly, eliminating unnecessary escalations.
- Intelligent Triage & Routing — Calls requiring non-Epic expertise, such as Citrix support, are routed to the appropriate team with full context, reducing rework, shortening mean time to resolution, and improving the clinician support experience.
- Workflow Maintenance — The team performs routine Epic maintenance tasks previously consuming advanced application analyst capacity.
- Integrated Testing — Supports workflow testing cycles that accelerate optimization timelines.
- End-User Education — Provides clinical guidance and training that reduces repeat call volume over time.
“The clinical service desk now performs maintenance and testing tasks beyond typical service desk work as well as supports workflow testing and education, adding value beyond ticket resolution.”
— Kevin Naugle, CereCore
How the Partnership Grew: A Trust-Based Growth Model
The Clinical Service Desk didn't start at scale. Growth was intentional and earned through consistent performance, process investment, and leadership engagement on both sides.
As the organization saw reliable resolution quality, stronger documentation, and improved escalations, the partnership expanded from incident support into maintenance, testing, and education.
|
Phase |
What Happened |
|
Phase 1 Proof of Concept |
The Clinical Service Desk began with limited Epic access and a controlled scope, resolving incidents through clinical knowledge of Epic and operating like informatics support over the phone. The team established ticket handoff processes, reduced incidents, improved escalation quality, and deflected non-application Epic issues. Credibility grew as the Clinical Service Desk provided crisp, detailed documentation on escalated incidents and demonstrated consistent resolution capability with Epic support groups. |
|
Phase 2 Process Maturation |
Once challenges around ticket handoff were resolved and consistent quality was demonstrated, analytics against recurring escalated incidents paved the way to provide more robust Epic access and further expand resolution capability within the incident management process. As credibility grew, internal teams identified high-volume maintenance work that could shift to the Clinical Service Desk. Maintenance items such as cash drawer provisioning, provider on the fly, and in-basket maintenance were shifted to the group. Support volume increased steadily. |
|
Phase 3 Leadership Acceleration |
Active leadership engagement from both organizations approximately one year ago catalyzed a more aggressive expansion — moving from reactive support into proactive maintenance, testing, and education. |
Measurable Impact Across Two Layers of Value
|
Metric |
Result |
|
Direct Resolution Rate |
58% of Epic support calls resolved before escalation |
|
Rerouting Efficiency |
Additional calls triaged and routed to appropriate teams with full context |
|
Advanced Team Burden Reduction |
67% decrease in ticket volume reaching advanced Epic application teams |
|
Right-Level Resolution Savings |
$370K saved by resolving appropriate support work through the Clinical Service Desk instead of relying on higher-cost analyst resources. |
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Total Labor Cost Reduction |
~$500K in Epic analyst labor costs previously needed for support and maintenance tasks |
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Strategic Reallocation and FTE Savings (Year 2) |
Project hours redirected to Epic optimization and implementation equivalent of approximately 4 FTE analysts accelerating the time to complete projects and increasing the number of projects completed in a given timeframe |
The Dual Savings Model
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Layer 1 — Right-Level Resolution Savings: $370K Saved By resolving 58% of Epic support calls before escalation with appropriately skilled clinical service desk analysts, the organization avoids the cost of higher-cost resources handling routine issues. The result is fewer unnecessary escalations and a lower average cost per ticket. |
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Layer 2 — Resource Liberation: ~$500K in Epic analyst resources Beyond direct resolution, the Clinical Service Desk routes remaining calls to appropriate teams with proper context and triage. This produces a 67% reduction in ticket burden on the organization’s advanced Epic application teams — the equivalent of approximately 4 FTEs no longer consumed by support work. Those analyst hours are reallocated to Epic optimization and implementation projects that drive clinical transformation. |
From Support Burden to Strategic Capacity
The most significant outcome isn't cost savings — it's what the organization can now accomplish with freed capacity:
- Skilled analysts redirected to Epic optimization projects and transformation initiatives
- Implementation timelines benefit from additional skilled project hours
- Maintenance work such as cash drawer provisioning and in-basket support shifted to the Clinical Service Desk, giving analysts more room to focus on higher-value Epic initiatives.
What Made This Engagement Different
CereCore’s Clinical Service Desk model offered broader value than basic ticket intake and escalation. This comparison illustrates how the engagement blended direct resolution, routing accuracy, maintenance, testing, and education into a more strategic Epic support scope.
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Traditional Service Desk |
CereCore Clinical Service Desk |
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Answer calls, log tickets, escalate |
Resolve clinically, maintain, test, educate |
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Measured on call handle time |
Measured on resolution rate + escalation reduction |
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Cost center |
Strategic enabler of project capacity |
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Generic IT knowledge |
Epic-specific clinical workflow expertise |
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Static scope |
Expanding scope based on demonstrated trust |
Results
By combining clinical workflow knowledge with Epic support capability, CereCore helped the organization resolve 58% of Epic support calls before escalation, reduce ticket burden on advanced Epic application teams by 67%, lower support costs by approximately $370K, and create capacity for higher-value optimization and implementation work.
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