Preparing for a Clinical Informatics Interview? How to Land the Job and Knock the Socks off Your Interviewer

Technical Preparation

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• Review Data Types, Data Structures, Data Analysis
• Review any research you have been involved in, the purposes of the research, and the outcomes of the research. Write down a list of challenges you faced in the research project.
• Understand the Basics of HIPAA (a wordy PDF document, but if you can grasp this, you'll probably know more than 90% of the other candidates)
• An understanding of some of the challenges faced by healthcare organizations
  Healing the Hospital HierarchyThe Five Biggest Problems in Healthcare TodayGood Health IT vs. Bad Health ITExamples of Big Data Solving Real Problems
• Healing the Hospital Hierarchy
• The Five Biggest Problems in Healthcare Today
• Good Health IT vs. Bad Health IT
• Examples of Big Data Solving Real Problems
• Clinical Workflows and How to Implement Better Ones
• Data Analysis Techniques and Software Programs
  Hadoop Basics Understanding RData Visualizations with Tableau
• Hadoop Basics 
• Understanding R
• Data Visualizations with Tableau
• The Most Popular EMR/EHR Systems
• The HITECH Act and Meaningful Use
• ICD-10

"Soft Skills" Preparation

• A time where you had to deal with conflict and what you did to manage it
• A time where the technology at your organization was just not working out and what you did about it
• A time where you noticed a possible problem area in clinical workflows and how you closed that gap and the results of doing so
• A time where you had to use research and data to develop a recommendation or solution for a problem your organization was having
• A time where you noticed an inefficiency in a process and took steps to make it more efficient
• A time when there was a lapse in communication or difference in communication styles and how you handled the situation
• A time where you used good judgement and logic to come to a conclusion
• A time where a project landed up not working out, what you thought was the problem, and what you would do in a similar situation to change the outcome
• A time where a project was successful, the elements that made is successful, and how you would apply those elements to a new project

Perform Research on the Company You'll be Interviewing With

Brainstorm Questions for the Interviewer

• How are you guys handling... meaningful use? ICD-10 Implementation? Privacy and security concerns?
• Does your organization currently have an EHR in place? What was the hardest thing about its implementation?
• What is the strategic plan for the company? How do you see clinical/health informatics fitting in to the overall plan?
• What has been the hardest technical/clinical/other area of expertise/etc your organization has had to overcome in the last five years?
• How would you describe the culture of the organization? Could you see me fitting in with it?
• What is the performance review cycle like? How are employees evaluated?
• Do you enjoy working here?