Epic: Data Exchange Numbers Up 300 Percent in Last 12 Months

In the last 12 months, nearly a quarter of a billion patient records were exchanged using Epic’s Care Everywhere platform, the Verona, Wis.-based health IT vendor announced in a blog post this week.

This number of patient records exchanged represents a 300 percent increase from the year prior. Records were exchanged with groups using other electronic health records (EHRs), health information exchanges (HIEs), health information service providers (HISPs), entities connected to the eHealth exchange, and members of the Epic community.

According to the post, the Care Everywhere platform supports all Epic’s clinical users, which includes more than 28,600 clinics and 1,200 hospitals. Organizations using Care Everywhere make up the nation’s largest EHR-based exchange group, covering a patient population of approximately 181 million, the vendor attests.

Last fall, a report from Utah-based KLAS Research found that despite a reputation of being a vendor that is difficult to work with others, Epic rated positively for its interoperability strengths. The report found that providers want invisible, effortless connections that provide high patient are value. Connections via EHR vendors’ private networks are the closest match today, with Epic clients in the Care Everywhere network composing more than 80 percent of such connections and enjoying immediate benefits once live. This was in response to the question of which connections bring the highest value, according to KLAS.

Demonstrating the success of clear governance and standards, Care Everywhere is successful due to clear client governance, Epic’s large footprint, and an almost effortless activation process, according to the report’s findings. Epic’s network does not solve the critical need for heterogeneous connections built through vendor collaboration, however, according to respondents.