The pandemic has changed the operational trajectory for Epic, just as it has for all businesses, but the EHR giant still established several tech-focused partnerships in the past 12 months.
Below is a timeline of some of Epic's most notable tech partnerships as covered by Becker's Hospital Review in the past year.
Dec. 9, 2019: Intelliguard developed an interface to integrate its wireless medication management tracking technology with Epic. Intelliguard's platform will help anesthesiologists and pharmacists track medications after they have been dispensed through the EHR.
Dec. 20, 2019: Epic tapped Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanderbilt University Medical Center to help develop software to advance prevention efforts of intensive care unit delirium.
Feb. 20: CoverMyMeds, a health tech company that helps patients gain access to their medications, integrated with Epic's MyChart patient portal.The partnership allows healthcare organizations that use an Epic EHR to offer their patients access to CoverMyMeds to check their prior authorization and prescription statuses.
Feb. 25: Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Health Network rolled out a mobile application that helps recently discharged hospital patients track their care journey and communicate with their providers from home. MyChart Care Companion is part of the existing online patient portal MyChart developed by EHR giant Epic. MyChart allows patients to schedule appointments, message their providers and pay bills, among other functions, online.
Feb. 27: MobileSmith Health announced its patient adherence management tool Peri became available in Epic’s App Orchard. The tool allows healthcare providers utilizing Epic's system to support adherence before and after procedures through embedded EMR integration and adherence tracking dashboards.
March 23: Epic joined the COVID-19 Healthcare Coalition, which includes providers such as Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic and Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Healthcare. Other companies involved include Amazon, Athentahealth, Salesforce and Microsoft. The coalition aims to bring together industry and healthcare providers to help flatten the COVID-19 curve.
April 6: The New York Department of Health and NYC Health + Hospitals deployed an Epic EHR system at the Javits Center temporary hospital for COVID-19 patients in New York City.
April 9: The Chicago Department of Public Health partnered with Rush University Medical Center and Epic to implement an EHR system across the city's 3,000-bed COVID-19 alternate care facility at the McCormick Place Convention Center.
April 29: Epic partnered with Cleveland Clinic to develop a home-monitoring program for COVID-19 patients. The partners use Epic's MyChart Care Companion to monitor patients with chronic conditions, and they customized it for COVID-19.
April 30: Epic partnered with Twilio to embed the telehealth platform into its software. The telehealth solution is a web application hosted by Epic that will allow clinicians to launch a virtual visit with patients directly within the EHR.
June 1: Epic partnered with Madison, Wis.-based Dane County Health Council to develop a tool to help address racial disparities in birth outcomes by connecting Black mothers' prenatal care process with their social needs.
June 10: Northern Ireland signed a 10-year contract with Epic to design and implement an EHR system as part of the country's $374 million digital health records investment. The project is expected to generate 200 new jobs across the country.
June 17: Health Care Service Corp., the Chicago-based parent of five Blue Cross and Blue Shield health plans, tapped Epic to launch a new health information exchange platform between insurers, providers and patients. It operates through Epic and establishes a two-way exchange of information at the point of care between HCSC and in-network providers that use the Verona, Wis.-based EHR vendor's software.
Aug. 20: Nuance announced that its virtual assistant is now integrated with Epic's ambient voice technology "Hey Epic!" in the EHR's front-end software Hyperspace. Nuance's virtual assistant builds upon its conversational, artificial intelligence solution Dragon Medical, which first became available in the Epic EHR in 2018 through the software's Haiku and Rover mobile apps.
Sept. 22: Microsoft announced that Epic will be the first medical record system to integrate the Microsoft Teams connector, which allows clinicians and patients to launch telehealth visits through the platform.
Oct. 1: University of Minnesota and M Health Fairview researchers created an artificial intelligence algorithm that evaluates chest X-rays to diagnose potential cases of COVID-19 and made it available at scale for free in Epic's App Orchard.
Oct. 8: Lyft announced it is integrating with Epic to allow healthcare workers to coordinate patient transportation directly from the EHR. Hospital staff can order a Lyft ride on behalf of the patient directly from their profile in the EHR, and the patient's appointment information will pre-populate in the ride request form to help streamline the ride booking process.
Oct. 13: Epic teamed up with InterSystems' data platform for its EHR to increase clinicians' access to larger datasets and information for patient care. Under the partnership, Epic will apply InterSystems' IRIS Data platform as the foundation for its EHR system.