I recently connected with one of our interoperability leaders, Christopher Fougere, to discuss what it’s like leading teams and delivering projects within our healthcare practice. We discussed what he enjoys most about his role at Perficient as a Senior Solutions Architect.
Christopher, thank you for taking time out of your day to chat with me. Can you tell me what it’s like to serve our healthcare clients?
Christopher skiing with his daughter near their home in Vermont
I’m a Senior Solutions Architect working full time right now on an interoperability project for a large payer. I’m also regularly pulled in for vendor assessments, statement of work definitions, and general healthcare architecture questions. My typical day involves providing guidance around a variety of considerations – from architecture to quality assurance and everything in between.
I offer leadership and pathways forward in order to simplify any issues or challenges that groups are facing. Recently, I have been helping facilitate our QA effort by formulating an automated test data set that links clinical (HL7/FHIR) and financial (837/835) domains. I also jump in on other technical initiatives where my expertise is needed. For example, the Department of Public Health (DPH) recently allowed payers access to COVID-19 vaccine information. I was able to quickly get a spec from the DPH and create a tool using HL7 and Soap to retrieve vaccine information for over 2 million of my customers’ members.
EXPLORE MORE: Learn about the interoperability initiative Christopher is helping lead.
What do you most value about working in your role as a Senior Solutions Architect?
I’m a problem solver and enjoy being challenged. This role allows me to do that every day.
I also love the fact that I am doing something different every single day. I’m not implementing one slice of a very large pie; I’m responsible for the entire pie. On my project, we have a team of healthcare experts in various domains who meet multiple times monthly to compare notes and learn from each other’s experiences. We discuss actual challenges and solutions we are working on.
One of the things I really like about Perficient is that, even though I am working solo most of the time, I have dozens of other highly-skilled Perficient folks filling other roles at the client alongside me. If there is a task that needs to be accomplished on the solution I am building and there is a Perficient resource assigned to that task, I am confident that it will be done in an expert manner.
What made you decide to work for Perficient? And what makes you stay and want to do your best work?
Proving that he is literally willing to go out on a limb
I have spent 20 years in healthcare IT, always on the vendor side. I’ve held positions at various companies and in various roles (e.g., development, implementations, QA, architecture, etc). While working in these roles, my primary focus without exception has been on the customer and providing the best experience that I possibly could.
I was once told by a colleague at a former employer to remember that I actually work for company XYZ and not for the customer. I really think that is not the correct mindset to have in any kind of software position. I feel like some vendors are shifting focus away from their customers and trying to do things faster and cheaper and without the proper guidance for their customers. This leads to poor implementation, and things will surely get missed. I don’t like to miss. I rarely miss.
I want customers to have a knowledgeable consultant in their corner who could earn their trust and help them build robust, quality solutions for whatever healthcare challenges they are facing. I have been given this opportunity at Perficient, and my customers and I are both doing exceptionally.
READ MORE: Unveiling the New Perficient People Promise
Healthcare Leaders Turn to Us
Our healthcare practice is comprised of experts who understand the unique challenges facing the industry. The 10 largest health systems and 10 largest health insurers in the U.S. have counted on us to support their end-to-end digital success. Modern Healthcare has also recognized us as the fifth-largest healthcare IT consulting firm.
We bring pragmatic, strategically-grounded know-how to our clients’ initiatives. And our work gets attention – not only by industry groups that recognize and award our work but also by top technology partners that know our teams will reliably deliver complex, game-changing implementations. Most importantly, our clients demonstrate their trust in us by partnering with us again and again. We are incredibly proud of our 90% repeat business rate because it represents the trust and collaborative culture that we work so hard to build every day within our teams and with every client.
With more than 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry, Perficient is a trusted, end-to-end, global digital consultancy.
LEARN MORE: About our Promise to Challenge, Champion, and Celebrate our People
It’s no secret our success is because of our people. No matter the technology or time zone, our colleagues are committed to delivering innovative, end-to-end digital solutions for the world’s biggest brands, and we bring a collaborative spirit to every interaction. We’re always seeking the best and brightest to work with us. Join our team and experience a culture that challenges, champions, and celebrates our people.
Learn more about what it’s like to work at Perficient at our Careers page.
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