Houston-based Memorial Hermann Health System completed its transition to an Epic EHR system to enhance provider and nursing satisfaction, improve patient engagement and streamline revenue cycle management.
The health system transitioned from Oracle Health and Altera Healthquest to Epic, consolidating its EHR and RCM onto a single platform. The 24-month switch required an approximate $500 million investment, including $330 million in capital expenses and $170 million in operating costs.
With the new Epic EHR now live across 15 of Memorial Hermann's hospitals and 250 care sites, the health system is already seeing significant benefits. Amanda Hammel, senior vice president and CIO at Memorial Hermann, told Becker that one of the key features the organization was eager to implement was Care Everywhere, Epic's interoperability platform that enables secure data sharing between healthcare organizations and EHR systems.
"In just 19 days, we've exchanged millions of records in both directions, which is significant in a city with multiple health systems and independent providers," Ms. Hammel said.
Additionally, 56% of Memorial Hermann's patients are actively using the My Memorial Hermann app, the health system's new patient portal, with 55% of those users utilizing its features to pay copays in advance of their visits.
"The efficiency of being able to see your data, fill out your forms before you come and complete all of those steps means your check-in process can be personalized," Ms. Hammel said.
Memorial Hermann's future priorities include harnessing Epic's expanding AI and automation capabilities to enhance patient care and operational efficiencies. Ms. Hammel emphasized the health system's commitment to staying up-to-date with Epic's quarterly upgrades, adding that it plans to adopt additional functionalities as they become available.
The health system is also collaborating closely with Epic developers, including an immersion trip in late October, less than a month post-go-live.
According to Ms. Hammel, Memorial Hermann is looking to Epic's product roadmap to see how future developments will continue to meet the health system's needs.