Exchanging data between Epic electronic health record systems and other vendors' EHRs is not easy, but providers have found ways to successfully share patient data between the systems, according to a new report from KLAS.
"Epic is seen by many competitors and providers as not playing well with others," said report author Mark Allphin in a news release. "Yet the providers we interviewed told us a more complex story. Data is being shared, but the effort required to get there can be very different depending on whether you are on the Epic side of the exchange or with some other vendor."
According to the results, based on interviews with 28 total Epic and non-Epic providers, the most common way to exchange data between the systems was through a regional or statewide health information exchange, or through a health information services vendor. Some were able to achieve direct interoperability between the disparate systems.
The brunt of the work to exchange with Epic was done by the non-Epic providers. "For Epic end users, sharing with other health systems is a stress-free experience," according to the report's authors. "Epic handles the configuration and then the already-familiar Care Everywhere tool suddenly has access to outside data."
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