EHR titan Epic embarks on a bold AI venture: Is it feasible for them to establish a cohesive healthcare network?
In a groundbreaking move, Epic, the leading Electronic Health Record (EHR) company, has unveiled a sweeping vision for a connected healthcare universe. This universe is set to be tethered together by AI-infused tools and services, aiming to revolutionise the healthcare industry.
Epic's vision encompasses three generative AI Co-pilots: Emmie, Art, and Penny. Emmie is designed to assist patients with tasks like scheduling, navigation, and education, while Art is geared towards helping clinicians with administrative tasks, data retrieval, and summarizations. Penny, on the other hand, is focused on revenue cycle operations.
The first state to embrace this new vision is Washington, which has adopted the Epic Community Connect platform. This platform extends the EHR to small and independent providers, aiming to bridge the gap between larger healthcare systems and smaller, often remote and rural, providers.
Epic has partnered with Microsoft to develop ambient AI tools, one of the biggest announcements at their recent user's conference. These tools are designed to counter existing solutions and encourage health systems and hospitals to adopt Epic's product.
With a roughly 42% share of the acute care EHR market, according to KLAS Research, and a significant presence in the ambulatory market, Epic is poised to make a significant impact with the rollout of hundreds of new AI-infused services and tools.
The new services are designed to improve the healthcare experience for both consumers and providers, addressing the ongoing issue of clinician burnout and stress, as well as financial sustainability. Epic is shifting the AI dynamic to put more emphasis on the provider, recognising the need for a more provider-centric approach in the post-pandemic era.
While Epic is set to face challenges in maintaining its pace and quality as AI is an altogether different technology, growing rapidly, the company is making a play for getting its products into the hands of smaller providers who aren't currently customers. This move is seen as a means of helping remote and rural health systems improve their tech platforms and stave off closure.
In an effort to further improve rural access to healthcare technology, Faulkner, a leading figure in the industry, offered three suggestions: creating a statewide Community Connect platform, having a state host a shared instance of Epic with help from participating health systems, and having rural providers collaborate to share an Epic platform.
Moreover, Epic's presentation at the user's conference emphasised the benefits of joining the Epic network as the company rolls out more solutions and the network grows. Hospitals and health systems can also reduce their expenses by buying Epic products that address the revenue cycle and administrative efficiency.
The healthcare industry is encouraged to foster both competition and collaboration to keep costs down and give innovation an opportunity to flourish. Epic's ambitious vision for a connected care ecosystem, powered by AI, is a testament to this need for innovation and collaboration in the healthcare sector.
