Epic's CEO says hospitals should have a 'chief imitation officer' and its new initiative will help

Forbes Chair Steve Forbes interviewed Epic Systems CEO Judy Faulkner for his podcast titled "What's Ahead."

Ms. Faulkner outlined her background and the advantages of using patient portals. There are more than 250 million patients with Epic electronic records and plans to launch Epic EHR at 190 health systems worldwide in the fall of 2020. She said customers' executives often want to know what others are doing so they can replicate it.

"We call that imitate to innovate," said Ms. Faulkner. "What we're saying is that it's good to have a chief innovation officer, but you really need a chief imitation officer to watch what others are doing and share."

Epic sees around five to 10 creative ideas from health systems per week, said Ms. Faulkner, and wanted to share those ideas. The company is creating a site called EpicShare.org that is expected to launch within the next month to share information for Epic and non-Epic users. Ms. Faulkner expects the website will be updated frequently, similar to the articles published on Epic Health Research Network, a journal launched in the summer of 2020 designed to rapidly share knowledge among medical professionals.

During the podcast, Ms. Faulkner also touched on Epic's aim to accelerate claims processing. "Better decisions on claims are going to come because we are now having payers be our customers as well as health systems. Some of the things we want to do is get rapid and good decisions on claims," Ms. Faulkner said. She also wants to help expedite claims processing and approval for needed surgeries by allowing providers and payers to share information about the patient and communicate through the Epic systems. Mr. Forbes likened the system to a "medical equivalent of an instant loan."

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