Epic and Oracle Cerner have been busy.
Both companies entered multiple partnerships and expanded their reach in the last two months, and they continue to seek opportunities to grow. Here are five moves both companies have made recently.
Epic
1. Epic joined the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement, which aims to improve health data interoperability. The company previously partnered with ONC, the Sequoia Project and others in the healthcare community to build principles and procedures within the agreement, and now the 2,000-plus hospitals and more than 45,000 clinics with Epic's EHR can join the framework.
2. Epic also partnered with genetic testing and precision medicine company Myriad Genetics in late June to integrate Myriad's tests and review results directly within Epic's platforms. Patients have access to their test results within the Epic portal as well, and the integration is expected to go live later this year.
3. Through a partnership with Caris Life Sciences, a molecular science company, Epic is adding molecular profile services to its network. Caris will integrate its test-ordering and results into Epic to help streamline clinical workflows.
4. Jared Anderson, MD, an emergency physician practicing at Lifespan hospitals in Providence, R.I., joined Epic's national advisory board. Dr. Anderson was elected to Epic's emergency medicine board, which includes 12 physicians from across the U.S. who advise the EHR giant on new developments and upgrades.
5. Jackson, Miss.-based St. Dominic Hospital is installing Epic's EHR at Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center in McComb. The two health systems will share the same EHR to improve care coordination and the revenue cycle process.
Oracle Cerner
1. Oracle completed its $28.4 billion acquisition of Cerner in early June, and Larry Ellison, chief technology officer of Oracle, reported plans to create a nationwide healthcare database shortly thereafter.
2. Cerner inked a partnership with Tiger Institute for Health Innovation, which provides the technology for University of Missouri Health Care's EHR system, and Foundation Medicine, which focuses on developing and selling genomic profiling assays. The partners aim to launch a fully automated genetic testing interface within the Oracle Cerner EHR.
3. Oracle Cerner reported it expanded relationships with health systems globally, including Champion Hospital in Kuwait, Austin Hospital in Australia, Emirates Health Services in the United Arab Emirates and Hamad Medical Corporation in Qatar. Oracle Cerner now has 2,389 inpatient hospitals globally, the most of any EHR vendor.
4. Birmingham, Ala.-based Encompass Health launched its 150th post-acute inpatient rehabilitation hospital linked to the Oracle Cerner EHR. Encompass said it plans to add six to 10 hospitals to its system each year and include the Oracle Cerner EHR from day one.
5. David Feinberg, MD, CEO of Cerner, will become chair of the newly created Oracle Health global industry unit while Travis Dalton is being promoted to general manager and will be tasked with running Oracle Health, according to the Kansas City Business Journal. He previously served as chief client and services officer at Cerner.