Journey to become a business analyst in health IT

http://www.batimes.com/keith-ellis/swamped-in-detail.html

During a recent use case walk through session, I presented the UI mockup before we finished going through the whole use case. We ended up spending the whole session discussing the UI because people were so adamant on what they want on the UI they lost the big picture of what the use case is trying to accomplish. That said, my lesson learned is to walk through an entire use case first before showing any UI. This doesn't mean the approach of exposing UI early in requirement cycle is inappropriate, in fact, I preach religiously the benefit of having UI as supporting document to the use case. 1. UIs are so easy and quick to understand, they accelerate the requirement cycle. They help you to expose missing requirements or reach agreement with stakeholders early, thus save time and money on having to rework the requirements later. Personally, I'd rather find out any conflicts, issues early so I can form a plan to address them. 2. Stakeholders are involved early in design and help to ...

Three years ago, I set a goal to become a business analyst specializing in the health IT industry. I wasn't a BA back then and I wasn't working in the health IT industry. I anticipated I can probably become a BA in three years, and maybe another 5 years or more to get into the health IT industry. I became a BA 9 months later, and got a job as senior technical business analyst in health IT two years after that. Now that I look back on the journey, I realize how incredible it has been: of all the hardwork I have put in, all the amazing people that helped me to get to where I want to be, and all the mentoring and support from friends and family. I have to say I am very fortunate to have all this. I hope I never take things for granted and never forget how I felt, for I am living my dream.

I like this post because it teaches you how to be diplomatic which is what I need to work on http://www.modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1216/Working-with-Various-Personalities-among-Stakeholders.aspx

I came across an article on how electronic health record benefit cancer patients. " http://www.570news.com/news/national/article/38719--cancer-advocacy-group-calls-for-e-health-records-for-patients-more-drug-funding " This actually reminded me of a recent visit to my family doctor. I was asked to schedule an appointment to see my body check report. The first time I went I ended up rescheduling the appointment because I waited for two hours in the clinic and I had go to another appointment. I went the second time and again waited for two hour in the clinic. I was about to cancel it again but the nurse persuaded me to stay for another 15 minutes. I finally saw my family doctor but the whole thing took less than one minute: according to the report everything is normal! I wonder why can't they just tell me over the phone so that I didn't have to wait for 4 hours? If I can log in to electronic health record online to see my report, then wouldn't I be saving money for t...

A good article on decision models... http://www.modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1182/Three-Reasons-to-Upgrade-from-Business-Rules-to-Decision-Models.aspx

http://www.modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1193/BAs-Will-Falter-Until-They-Learn-to-Discover-REAL-Business-Requirements.aspx