Farida was presented an honorary certificate for women in STEM by the office of Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel
Farida Bambot, of the Los Angeles Dawoodi Bohra community is currently a Principal Program Manager in the Information Technology department at Providence Health & Services, a healthcare organization operating 51 hospitals and over 800 clinics across Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, and Texas. She is responsible for installing Providence standard medical computer systems [EPIC] at hospitals, Urgent Cares, and doctor’s offices acquired by Providence. It is necessary to ensure that a patient’s medical information is readily available to physicians regardless of the Providence location where the patient is being seen.
Replacing an existing computer system involves integrating several different workstreams. These include setting up EPIC to accommodate the new organization’s current processes and training physicians, nurses, reception desk, and billing staff. It also includes replacing computers, monitors, and printers with EPIC standard equipment, testing the EPIC setup and copying patients’ recent medical information into EPIC from their current systems. Each of these efforts is led by one or more project managers working with EPIC analysts and other technical staff. Typically, the IT team’s size is between 100 to 250 staff members depending on the number of hospitals and clinics included in the installation. Project managers regularly report their progress, issues, and project risks to Farida, who is responsible for sharing Program executive updates with Providence leadership and facilitating the successful resolution of problems or risks.
Despite the careful planning and hard work in setting up the new EPIC system to align with current physician medical processes, some processes need to change because of the shift. Working with physicians who have become comfortable with their existing systems on making such a significant change is exceedingly difficult, and Farida often experiences stiff resistance to change. However, she has successfully overcome such challenges by building strong working relationships and collaborating closely with physician leaders. For example, she spends significant efforts in educating physician leaders and using their help in communicating medical process changes to their physician peers, who are naturally more accepting of differences when hearing about it from one of their own. Farida has successfully transitioned seven hospitals and 300 clinics, spread over the west coast, to Providence EPIC systems and continues to do so with new acquisitions as they come on board. These transitions are vital to Providence’s expansion efforts, and Farida’s work carries significant responsibility that can be incredibly stressful. Nevertheless, it is also very satisfying when the program is completed successfully, on time, and within budget.