Epic launched a customer relationship management system for health systems and is developing an app that uses real-world data to help physicians research best care practices for their patients, Madison.com reported March 26.
The CRM system, called Cheers, sends proactive messages to patients who use Epic's MyChart portal if they need a particular type of care, such as a cancer screening.
Cheers can connect to healthcare providers' phone systems to automatically pull up a patient's record and suggest additional topics to communicate about, such as a message about scheduling a vaccination appointment, according to Epic product manager Sam Seering.
Epic is also developing an app called Best Care for My Patient, which will be populated by Epic's data-mining tool, Cosmos.
"We've always been really good at helping clinicians keep record of patient care," Jacqueline Gerhart, MD, Epic's director of clinical informatics, told Madison.com. "What we are trying to do is take that to the next level. It's not just about having information, but using that information for good … from access to care, to figuring out the [health] ecosystem around the individual and bringing that all together."
The app has been in development for two years and is expected to go live within the next year and a half, according to Dr. Gerhart.