Epic regularly does "immersion trips" to hospitals and health systems to get a better feel for how they're using its EHR and to identify needs for new software, according to founder and CEO Judy Faulkner.
"We send our staff to our customers," Ms. Faulkner said at the 2024 Forbes Healthcare Summit in December. "You've probably had our staff show up, wander around."
The Epic employees get a better grasp on two things, she said: "One, they learn to see if the software that they built and are working on — and it's important to them — is working well, or if you need changes to it.
"Two, they learn to care, when they watch a doctor taking care of a patient and they're in that room."
Ms. Faulkner said this autonomy and experiential learning allows Epic employees to decide which software upgrades are most needed by health systems.
"I don't pick out what they're going to do next, unless it's a huge project, which may take 50 people four years, then I will get involved," she said. "But other than that, they pick their own projects and their own work."
The company, for instance, is incorporating artificial intelligence into "60 to 100 places" in the EHR, she said. Customers also make direct requests, she said, like incorporating a new treatment or medical device.