2016 Innovations for Epic Systems

Virtelligence Explores Epic’s big changes in 2016

1. Growth of employment and campus. In 2015, Epic, based in Verona, WI brought its workforce from a strong 8,000 to an even more remarkable 9,400. The company has released plans for five additional buildings (that will total half a million square feet) to account for the influx of employees, three of which are expected to open this year. The five new buildings will house 1,580 new offices, and the second cafeteria on the campus. In order to account for the increase of traffic created by the additional fourteen hundred staff, a major road in Verona is being expanded to a four-lane road, and more roads may be needed to and from the literature themed campus of the software giant. Epic is one of only two vendors that did not lose any clients in 2015, so it is easy to see why the company is experiencing so much growth.

2. Partnership with Mayo Clinic. Next year, Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN plans to migrate its EHR systems completely over to Epic. In addition to the technological switch, Mayo Clinic is also selling its data center (a 62,000 square foot building) to Epic in a sale-leaseback deal with the intent of leasing the building from Epic for four years, after which time, they will be offered the opportunity to continue leasing the building indefinitely. The sale-leaseback deal is reported at $46 million, and Epic is also building a $6.1 million electronic substation to support the increasing needs of the data center. Mayo will be training over 45,000 employees on how to use the new system, which will replace three separate EHRs currently in place at Mayo. The switch to Epic is expected to be a foundation for several decades of healthcare at Mayo.

3. New job openings at hospitals due to Epic implementation. A dozen hospitals throughout the U.S. have embarked on the journey with Epic through using EHR systems, which has created scores of new jobs to be filled. In one hospital alone (South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, MA) is engaged in a multi-million dollar integration of Epic into its systems. Over fifty new employees will be hired to handle the installation and implementation of Epic, and the hospital may need additional physical space to accommodate the new employees. The other hospitals requiring new talent to work with Epic are Boston Medical Center, Lahey Health (MA), Providence Health & Services (WA), Spectrum Health and Henry Ford Health System (MI), MD Anderson Cancer Center (TX), ProMedica (OH), University Medical Center New Orleans, Piedmont Healthcare (GA), and Northwestern Medicine (IL).

4. Epic-based system to merge with QPID to increase quality and decrease cost. As the move to value-based care begins, it is important to have the ability to use patient data to the fullest extent of efficiency. Using the QPID system will remove the unpleasant task of filtering through high amount of data in order to find the necessary information in order to provide helpful services to patients. Being able to glean this data from the EHR will lower costs and improve the overall outcome. As significant investments from Partners Healthcare have been made into the project, the software merge will ensure that the investment is more than returned. The merge of the two systems (QPID and Epic) will make for a more efficient and user-friendly EHR system overall, and should lead to better service for patients, and easier, faster task completion for employees. Created in 2005, QPID has 8500 users across major names in healthcare, and will soon be implemented across 10 new hospitals.

Epic’s founder and CEO, Judy Faulkner.

5. Main Line Health to start using Epic. Main Line Health is on track to implement an Epic platform to bring their hospitals, outpatient centers, large medical staff, and revenue cycle under one system, instead of the multiple systems currently being used. In addition to replacing the old IT systems, the integration of Epic will position Main Line Health to be prepared for the next generation of health care, making Main Line Health an even better care leader in their region. Epic will assist Main Line Health in creating a better patient experience by giving patients the ability to partner with their healthcare providers, increasing the usability and efficiency of function, and remaining a front-line provider in healthcare tools and care deliverability. The initial launch of Epic in Main Line Health (across their acute care and specialty hospitals) is slated for sometime early in 2018, with subsequent launches throughout different areas of the systems planned after that.

With all of these exciting advancements, we’ll be keeping our eyes on Epic this year, and keep a lookout for what’s to come next year!