Excited about his company's partnership with Epic, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella traveled to the EHR vendor's headquarters in Verona, Wis., to talk about it in person, Isthmus reported Nov. 2.
Mr. Nadella was at Epic's annual Users Group Meeting in August to share details about the two tech giants' collaboration to bring generative artificial intelligence to EHRs, according to the story. The partnership is a rarity for Epic, which typically develops all its software in-house.
"Microsoft has been wonderful to work with," said Epic senior vice president Sumit Rana, who interviewed Mr. Nadella at a "fireside chat" during the meeting, according to the newspaper. "It's been a fun and intense collaboration combining advanced engineering and cutting-edge research. Together we have been pushing the realm of possibility."
Epic has also been resistant to partnerships since one in the 2000s with Philips was decidedly not a success, the news outlet reported. But the AI "space is moving so fast" that Epic needed a hand, Madison, Wis., tech investor John Neis told the newspaper.
At the meeting, Mr. Nadella called the collaboration "fantastic," according to Isthmus. "I was keenly listening to what Judy (Faulkner) had to say about all the capabilities you build at Epic, and then how the (healthcare) community extends it and shares data."
"I'm grounded in the fact that any difference we can make to health outcomes is going to help all of us across our global society," he added. "To me, this is where it gets real. Technology for technology's sake is not that interesting. But technology applied in a meaningful way on society's biggest problems … is going to be the most impactful thing. So I am thrilled to be partners with you."
The crowd at the meeting gave him a rousing ovation, the news outlet reported.