Epic makes sure to have the latest technology, such as generative artificial intelligence, available from the outset of its EHR implementations, a company leader told Becker's.
The EHR vendor is banking on generative AI to help health systems automate repetitive administrative tasks — so they're a big part of new Epic installs.
"With staffing and the crunch that organizations are feeling financially, this is a new reality that we have to adapt to," Epic implementation executive Nick Frenzer told Becker's. "So when we're implementing, we're ensuring that we're putting things like generative AI at the forefront so they go live with that on Day 1. They're putting in machine learning models, such as case deterioration indices or no-show analyses, so that they see efficiency gains on Day 1."
Epic is developing over 60 generative AI models to help with tasks such as denial appeal letters, clinical documentation integrity, and emergency department discharges. It's another example of how the EHR vendor aims to become an integrated, all-in-one software platform for healthcare. The company may have an advantage in generative AI over newer players because of its dominance in the hospital market, according to a recent Forbes article.
Another newer implementation trend is leaning on Epic's increasingly "robust" foundation system — a preconfigured EHR representing current best practices — so health systems can concentrate on things other than just software during the installation, Mr. Frenzer said.
"What that's allowed us to do is focus our implementations on training and change management," he said. "So we spend a lot of our time going to the providers, going to the end users, providing them direct coaching on what the go-live will look like so they can start from a good foundation and adopt it successfully on Day 1 of go-live."