Healthcare IT Consultant & Fractional Advisor

The system went live. The extra work stayed.

A. Andrews Dean — Vestavia Hills, Alabama
Serving clients remotely

Disconnected platforms. Duplicate work. Features left unused.

I find the gaps between installation and everyday use. I help healthcare teams connect workflows, uncover hidden costs, and get more from the systems they already own.

My perspective comes from working inside specialty practices and UAB’s academic medical environment—and carrying that experience into consulting and contract assignments.

A. Andrews Dean, CPHIMS, CHDA, CHPS, CPPM, CPC, CC

Explore a real problem ↓About Me & experience →

Explore the work

Where is the friction?

Choose a problem. See what changed.

Select a scenario ↓

Hidden vendor costs

Delaying an upgrade was costing this client 25% more.

The upgrade looked like an expense. The overlooked surcharge made waiting expensive, too.

25%monthly vendor surcharge no one had noticed

Explore the case study →

Backend billing+25% surcharge

Base vendor charge+25%

EHR more than two releases behind

Upgrade deferred

The hidden charge kept running.

The EHR fell more than two releases behind. A 25% surcharge applied to backend billing.

Based on actual engagements. Diagrams simplify the workflows; client identities are withheld.

Open a case to explore the details

Experience in application

Find the gap. Fix the workflow. Recover the value.

Here is how familiar system decisions became costly problems—and what I changed.

Explore my background →

Installed is only the starting point.

A fast rollout can leave connections, configuration, and staff workflows unfinished. Add competing systems, and the gaps can become routine workarounds. I look at how those gaps developed, what staff are doing around them, and which existing capabilities can close them.

0125% hidden surcharge identifiedThe hidden cost of postponing an upgrade

How it happened. A client deferred infrastructure upgrades to save money. Its EHR fell more than two releases behind.

The cost. No one was reviewing the vendor invoices. I found a 25% monthly surcharge for running EHR versions more than two releases behind.

What I changed. I put the surcharge alongside the hardware and software costs of upgrading, so the decision rested on the real numbers.

The result. The client learned of a recurring charge it had not known it was paying, and could weigh the upgrade against it.

Vendor cost review · EHR modernization

02One primary platform + one backupFour intake systems. One digital workflow.

How it happened. Four patient-intake systems covered overlapping parts of the same process. The platforms duplicated capabilities without forming one clear workflow.

The cost. Intake remained fragmented. The clinic carried more systems than the workflow needed.

What I changed. I planned and initiated consolidation onto one fully digital platform, with one optimized backup.

The result. Consolidation under way on one primary platform, with a backup for paper preferences and unexpected offline periods. The client expanded the platform on my recommendation.

Platform consolidation · Operational continuity

03Patient self-enrollment and records accessMaking electronic records access self-service

How it happened. Portals were used mainly to view records. Enrollment guidance and records-request workflows had not made full use of their capabilities.

The gap. Having a portal did not give patients a clear path to self-service records access.

What I changed. Across client and employer projects, I connected portals to existing websites. I added FAQs, enrollment and activation instructions, and digital release-of-information workflows.

The result. Patients could self-enroll and fulfill their own electronic information requests. The changes supported 21st Century Cures EHI access requirements.

Patient portals · EHI access · Release of information

Ways to work together

Fractional and project support for provider-side teams.

Remote, nationwide, and available for both shorter- and longer-term assignments. Fees are set per engagement.

Fixed fee

Advisory Session

A paid working session of about 90 minutes on one system, workflow or compliance question, followed by a written summary of what I found and what to do next.

Monthly retainer

Fractional Health IT Advisor

Ongoing senior health IT guidance on a retainer of 10 or 20 hours a month: priorities, vendor questions, regulatory changes and follow-through.

Fixed fee

Vendor Renewal & Upgrade Review

An operational review of an EHR or vendor renewal, upgrade or pricing change: what you are paying for, what you are not using, and what waiting will cost. It complements your attorney's contract review; it does not replace it.

Short-term

Bridge Advisor

Coverage during a leadership or vendor transition, so projects, reporting and vendor relationships keep moving until the permanent arrangement is in place.

For firms & vendors

Bench Expert

Provider-side EHR, workflow and compliance experience for consulting firms and health IT vendors that need a subject-matter expert on a client engagement.

Typical clients: community health centers and FQHCs, behavioral health organizations, rural and critical access hospitals, and the consulting firms and vendors that serve them.

What AI can't tell you

Some problems only show up from inside the workflow.

AI tools can summarize a rule or compare product features. They cannot see what your staff do around the system every day, or what your invoices and contracts quietly add up to.

Which daily workarounds are hiding a configuration gap.
Whether a charge on a vendor invoice is tied to a version you could upgrade away from.
Whether a patient can actually get from your website to their records, not just whether the portal exists.
Which priorities, habits and informal dependencies will decide whether a change sticks.

Making the change work

A sound implementation plan must account for how people actually work.

I recognize the competing priorities, informal dependencies, and workflow habits that can determine whether a project succeeds. That helps me turn a recommendation into changes staff can use and sustain.

Experience across specialty practices, academic medicine, community care, and consulting.

Explore my experience and expertise →Boards, councils & professional service →

Professional certifications & designations

Experience-driven. Industry-validated.

My expertise comes from years of hands-on work at the intersection of technology, compliance, and the business operations that support clinical care. Professional study and continuing education keep that experience connected to evolving regulations, systems, and industry expectations.

I pursued these certifications and designations to document a multidisciplinary foundation. Their practical value lies in the connections: anticipating how a system change affects patient access, how a documentation choice influences reimbursement, and how a workflow decision creates or reduces risk.

That perspective helps me evaluate technology in the context of the entire organization—and recommend changes that strengthen both day-to-day operations and financial sustainability.

Verify certifications →

Professional certifications & designations by discipline
Core discipline	Certifications & designations
Healthcare IT & Security	CPHIMSHealthcare Information and Management Systems · HIMSS CCCybersecurity · ISC2
Data Analytics & Privacy	CHDAHealth Data Analyst · AHIMA CHPSHealthcare Privacy and Security · AHIMA
Practice & Revenue Operations	CPPMPhysician Practice Manager · AAPC CPCProfessional Coder · AAPC
Managed Care & Payer Strategy	PAHMAcademy for Health Care Management · AHIP PHIASHealth Insurance Advanced Studies · AHIP

Published perspective

Practical experience, shared with the profession.

My writing follows the connections that make health IT work: cybersecurity collaboration in Better Together, responsible information access, and the human side of change. Presentations extend that discussion into quality reporting, interoperability, and federal telehealth policy.

All publications & speaking →

AHIMAJOURNAL
OF AHIMA

Better Together

By A. Andrews Dean

August 2, 2020 · Journal of AHIMA · Author-preserved edition

How collaboration and shared cyberthreat intelligence strengthen healthcare’s response to security threats.

Read article →

AHIMAJOURNAL
OF AHIMA

APIs and the Privacy, Security Challenge for HIM

By A. Andrews Dean

July–August 2019 · Vol. 90, No. 7 · pp. 18–21

Expanding patient access also changes the responsibility for protecting sensitive information.

Read article →

Let’s connect

What is slowing down your team—or costing more than it should?

Let’s discuss the workflow, system issue, or role where hands-on health IT experience can help.

Email Andrews Dean ↗LinkedIn