The Overview of EPIC EMR

The company’s initial focus was on EHR software for ambulatory systems, but upon winning the large-scale Kaiser Permanente implementation, Epic broke into the mainstream HIS market in a big way. The HMO project was a challenge by all accounts, but the end product was a tightly integrated system that makes record sharing easy, within an organization and within a community. As the US government incents health care entities to form Accountable Care Organizations, Epic’s value proposition is only getting stronger .

The company is privately held, and Forbes recently put its 2011 earnings at $1.2 billion (and growing) with Epic EMR in nearly 40% of the US hospital market .

Unmatched inpatient and outpatient record integration is clearly a differentiator that has allowed the Wisconsin company to win time and time again against competitor vendors. When a hospital system owns ambulatory clinics, and has the budget to support an integrated electronic medical record system, they are often selling themselves to Epic to move forward.

You can’t typically create this level of demand without a functional product, and Epic has won some important industry recognition. KLAS awards for 2011 gave several categories to Epic.

Following is a list of the 2011 Best in KLAS vendors for software:

Acute Care EMR Epic EpicCare Inpatient EMR

Ambulatory EMR (Over 75 Physicians) Epic EpicCare Ambulatory EMR

Patient Accounting and Patient Management Epic Resolute Hospital Billing

Pharmacy Epic Willow

Practice Management (Over 75 Physicians) Epic Resolute/Prelude/Cadence

Radiology Epic Radiant

Surgery Management Epic OpTime

The EpicCare Inpatient Clinical System spans all hospital departments and specialties, giving providers the tools they need to deliver safe, high-quality care. EpicCare's role-based navigators simplify relevant information access for physicians, nurses, therapists, dietitians and any other provider in the hospital setting. Integrated tools include:

• Wizard-guided Med Rec • Clinical Pathways • Collapsible/Expandable Flow sheets • ICU Support • Electronic MAR • Barcode Administration via Rover • Interdisciplinary Care Plans • Pharmacy Integration • Hospital Outpatient Support

EpicCare Inpatient shares user-friendly documentation and CPOE features with the rest of Epic's clinical suite, making it easy for users to place orders, minimizing the documentation workload and maintaining a consistent, familiar user interface. At every point in the care process, clinical decision support works to protect patient safety and encourage compliance with organizational best practices.

The integrated design approach translates into a system nurses, physicians and pharmacists embrace. KLAS ** noted:

"The typical Epic hospital uses CPOE at a wider and deeper level than other hospitals. Epic has the highest number of hospitals performing closed-loop medication administration, and by a wide margin, the highest per-hospital percentage of physicians that enter notes electronically."

The EpicCare EMR System Consistently successful. Surprisingly affordable.

The EpicCare EMR is rated #1 in its category by KLAS Enterprises * – and has been for the last 14 years straight. The system makes physicians more productive by simplifying the important patient-facing elements of care delivery.

EpicCare is a physician-friendly system in use by providers representing more than 100 specialties. It installs easily with our pre-built Model System and configures to meet specific workflow requirements. Instead of starting from scratch, Epic customers build on the content from successful customers – including decision support, order sets, reports and documentation tools. The result is a faster path to effective chronic care management and measurable quality gains.

Quality care costs less EpicCare users report cost savings and revenue improvements from using the system to its fullest. We can help you:

• Receive 2% PQRI Incentives • Receive 2% E-Prescribing Incentives • Reduce Transcription Costs • Decrease Risk of Medication Errors • Reduce Duplicate Orders • Save on Regulatory Documentation • Reduce Unnecessary Tests • Reduce Ineligible Dx/Procedure Combos

Deeper adoption Epic is known for bringing physicians up to speed on time, on budget and with high-performance tools – from orders and results to integrated voice recognition and other documentation shortcuts. In the context of Meaningful Use, KLAS ** says of Epic: "...they have more physicians that have adopted CPOE in the outpatient setting than any other vendor by a wide margin. In fact, much of Epic's inpatient success is fueled by success in the outpatient market. Apart from Epic, most other vendors experience a high level of pain in the ambulatory IT market."

Specialties

Core Specialty Support

EpicCare is designed to accommodate physician specialists, therapists and other specialized care providers – in addition to Primary Care. Specialized clinicians comprise approximately half of EpicCare's total users. Epic makes it easier for these users to get up and running with pre-configured Specialty Model Content . These workflows, templates, order sets and other tools are the same configurations that are working in live use at Epic client sites – from large group facilities to small practices. Most can be used as-is or tweaked to a specific workflow need. Specialties using EpicCare include:

• Allergy - • Genetics • Ophthalmology • Rheumatology Immunology • Gynecology • Orthopedics • School-based • Bariatric Surgery • Infectious • PM&R Health • Cardiology Disease • Physical Therapy • Sleep Lab • Cardiothoracic • Internal • Plastic Surgery • SLP Surgery Medicine • Podiatry • Social Services • Dermatology • Mental Health • General • Sports Medicine • Endocrinology • Nephrology Pediatrics • Substance • ENT • Neurology • Psychiatry Abuse • Family Medicine • Neurosurgery • Pulmonology • Transplant • Foster Care • Obstetrics • Radiation • Urgent Care • Gastroenterology • Occupational Oncology • Urology • Gerontology Therapy • Respiratory • Vascular • General Surgery • Oncology Therapy Surgery

Deeper Functionality: Specialty Add-ons Specialty groups and specialized facilities may choose to further automate specialty workflows with the targeted functionality of Epic's Specialty Information Systems.

Beacon Oncology Information System – lets physicians create treatment plans based on standard protocols and make treatment decisions guided by comprehensive decision support. Cupid Cardiovascular Information System – features multi-modality, procedure-specific clinical documentation along with streamlined consult, follow-up and referral workflows. Kaleidoscope Ophthalmology – enables device data capture and guides image-intensive ophthalmology documentation workflows. Phoenix Transplant Information System – supports the focused clinical workflows and detailed regulatory requirements of solid organ transplants. Stork Obstetrics/L&D Information System – organizes the complete course of obstetric care and supports the unique documentation workflow of Labor and Delivery.

Community Connect: Extending to Independent Physicians and Hospitals Epic provides large organizations with structured methods for extending a shared electronic record system to independent physician practices and community hospitals. Participating in an Epic shared record solves many of the challenges community providers have with Meaningful Use and interoperability. It does so in a way that's better for patients and less expensive to implement.

You share patients. It makes sense to share their records.

Epic provides our customers with structured methods for extending a shared electronic record system to independent physician practices and hospitals. A complete community care record contributes to safer care in the hospital, builds trust and improves follow-up.

Continuity of care and content.

Participating in an Epic shared record solves many of the challenges community groups have with Meaningful Use and interoperability. The hub can make use of a pre-built Model System to extend the best clinical content and workflows to their community. The Community Connect structure allows the organizations to share clinical data freely while keeping finances and scheduling separate. Patients also appreciate the self-service conveniences of managing their health record through MyChart, which can be made available to patients seen in independent physician offices and hospitals.

Sharing costs less and is less risky.

Depending upon the pricing and subsidy decisions at the host organization, community physicians and hospitals can have all the benefits of a shared record, often at a lower cost than implementing a freestanding EHR. They also have the benefit of piggybacking on the technical resources of the host organization, which simplifies hosting, support and upgrades. Small practices and hospitals can be confident that they are joining a successful implementation and avoid the risks of starting from scratch. Referral workflows are as simple as sending e-mail and require no costly interfaces.

Details for independent practices:

• Includes turnkey e-learning content for self-guided user training and assessment. • Enables rollout to multiple practices on quick timelines. • Supports specialists with appropriate order sets and documentation tools. • Includes one-time and monthly licensing options for users.

Details for community hospitals:

• Takes advantage of structured build that can be tailored to individual hospitals with minimal configuration. • Supports closed-loop medication workflows via Epic's integrated inpatient pharmacy system. • Uses, in most cases, the existing external interfaces of the host organization and adheres to standards for others.

Departments and Ancillaries

Emergency Department

ASAP Emergency Department Information System streamlines workflows and helps improve care delivery in busy emergency departments. Because it's integrated with Epic's other clinical applications, it combines instant access to comprehensive patient information with active decision-support functionality. ASAP clients dramatically reduce their wait times and transcription costs while providing faster, better care.

Inpatient Pharmacy

Willow Inpatient Pharmacy System is a key component of Epic's "closed-loop" medication ordering and administration process, linking pharmacists, ordering physicians and nurses to a single order record. With Willow, pharmacists can monitor medication treatment and improve medical outcomes, improving patient safety, minimizing adverse effects and helping control costs. Orders from EpicCare flow directly to Willow for verification and dispensing and also appear automatically on the MAR. Pharmacy staff has direct access to the chart during verification, empowering them to play a more active role in patient care, and verified orders can be routed to the appropriate dispensing device or to pharmacies outside the system. Changes made by a pharmacist are also automatically updated and available for other users. (Note: Willow was formerly known as "EpicRx")

Radiology

Radiant Radiology Information System combines tools for rules-based scheduling, documentation, results communication, chart/film tracking and detailed statistical reporting in a unified system that is fully integrated with our clinical systems. Radiant allows clients to link images and reports with a single system that can be accessed simultaneously by multiple users in multiple departments.

Operating Room

OpTime Operating Room Management System helps improve surgeon productivity, schedule utilization and perioperative documentation in both inpatient hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers. OpTime includes tools for all key perioperative processes including scheduling, preference card management, anesthesia record keeping, pre-op assessments, procedure record and PACU documentation.

Anesthesia

Epic Anesthesia Information Management System is designed to provide full ordering and clinical documentation tools wherever anesthesia services are needed in your organization. It is integrated with OpTime Operating Room Management and EpicCare EMR to streamline workflows across roles. Epic Anesthesia provides dedicated support for pre-op evaluations, pre-admission testing, intra-op record keeping, recovery care and post-procedure care, including inpatient follow-ups and post-op phone calls.

Intensive Care

Epic's ICU module supports users in super acute, comprehensive care, and interventional care environments, combining the functionality of our core clinical systems with targeted features and information displays. Care providers can trend clinical parameters such as hemodynamics and drips, vent settings and blood gasses, making it easier for them to assess the patient's condition and aiding in accurate decision making. Nurse Triage

Nurse Triage helps users handle more patient calls and deliver timely, effective care advice over the telephone. The system supports nurses throughout the triage process by providing easy access to patient records, proven practice management tools, and popular clinical protocols in a user-friendly format. As nurses assist patients, the system creates appropriate care documentation automatically, generating context-specific alerts and offering convenient access to scheduling information. Nurse Triage is integrated with all of Epic's applications, ensuring that call documentation always becomes part of the patient's enterprise record.

Home Care

EpicCare Home Health is a portable care management tool for home care providers, offering easy-to- use documentation and charting tools that help coordinate patient care, improve communication with physicians and handle case assignments. Home Health uses a unique synchronization process, allowing users to access the patient's complete medical record and document care in remote areas.

Health Information Management

Epic's Health Information Management system provides easy-to-use tools to simplify medical records management tasks, including:

• Chart and Film Tracking - integrates seamlessly into the appointment scheduling workflow to help users track the movement of patient information through your facilities. • Chart Deficiencies - monitors each chart, tracking delinquencies, generating follow up messages, and offering tools for quickly resolving deficiencies - ensuring that medical charts contain the critical information clinicians need and improving reimbursement. • Release of Information - allows users to track and fill information requests, generate charges, and collect payments for this service. • Coding and Abstracting - stores configurable coding information required for DRGs and other groupers calculated by third-party coding products.

Clinical Laboratory

Beaker Clinical Pathology provides seamless integration with Epic's Enterprise EMR, eliminating the need for multiple interfaces. It accommodates draw stations, clinic labs, hospital labs and large reference labs. Barcode-enabled workflows allow lab techs to track specimens within and across sites. Dynamic work lists display your lab's outstanding and overdue tests in real time. Lab staff has instant access to the patient's chart and can control reference ranges based on a patient's medical condition. Beaker includes built-in support for general lab, microbiology and QC testing. It also provides an ad-hoc reporting engine.

These Beaker tools allow your lab to connect with phlebotomists, clients and billing offices:

• Rover for Phlebotomists uses handheld devices in a scan-based workflow, allowing users to review orders needing collection, print specimen labels at the patient's bedside and capture collection details. • Outreach expands your lab's business opportunities through a web-based portal where clients can submit bar-coded, instrument-ready specimens to your lab for testing and receive online results/notifications. • Reference Lab Billing supports your billing office's client billing and non-EMR patient billing workflows for tests completed in your Beaker labs.

Anatomic Pathology Beaker Anatomic Pathology supports the needs of surgical pathology and cytology labs. Barcode enabled workflows help promote safe practices, while dedicated pathologist, cytotech, and histotech work lists help guide cases through the lab. Integration with Beaker Clinical Pathology provides one click access to the patient's history and synoptic reporting allows for efficient data mining.

Public Laboratory

Beaker Public Health Laboratory System is designed to meet the needs of multi-site public health laboratories. It helps users process specimens quickly, monitor quality control specimens, produce timely result reports in a variety of paper and electronic formats, create reports to analyze public health trends, and manage laboratory resources. Integration with Epic's Outreach application allows Web-based specimen inquiry.

Epic Interoperability

Physician-guided Care Everywhere provides a framework for interoperability, so that wherever the patient goes – between healthcare systems in the same town or across state and national borders – the clinicians providing care can have the information they need. Information can come from another Epic system, a non-Epic EMR that complies with industry standards, or directly from the patient. When an Epic system is on both sides of the exchange, a richer data set is exchanged and additional connectivity options, such as cross- organization referral management, are available. Regardless of the information source, Care Everywhere connects it to your EpicCare EMR, giving clinicians a more complete clinical record.

Patient-guided Lucy is a freestanding Personal Health Record (PHR), not connected to any facility's electronic medical record system. It stays with patients wherever they receive care and allows them to organize their medical information in one place that is readily accessible. Patients can enter health data directly into Lucy, pull in MyChart data or upload standards-compliant Continuity of Care Documents from other facilities.

Epic's Care Everywhere software can also retrieve documents from Lucy, making this information available to clinicians as part of the electronic chart.

Lucy is free of the two primary obstacles to patient PHR adoption:

1. There are no advertisements on Lucy. 2. Epic will not sell patient data for secondary uses.

Connecting to existing software and outside facilities Epic software interfaces easily to hundreds of xxxxHIT systems. Learn more about Epic Interfaces and Connectivity

Personal Health Records (PHRs), Portals and Mobile Applications

Integrated PHR

MyChart gives patients controlled access to the same Epic medical records their doctors use, via browser or mobile app (for iOS and Android). Its self-serve online functions can activate patients to improve their own health, reduce the cost of customer service and provide a vital communication link to support accountable care. (Note that not all MyChart functions are available on mobile.) Patients can: • View test results • Connect to home devices • View upcoming & past appointments • Refill prescriptions • Fill out pre-visit questionnaires • Message securely with providers • Schedule appointments • View a child's records and print growth • View paperless statements & pay bills charts online • Manage the care of elderly parents • Upload photos • View education topics triggered by EHR • Update medications and allergies data • Get a chronic disease summary w/reminders

Handheld Mobile for Providers Haiku (for iOS and Android) gives physicians secure and portable access to patient charts, whether they are in the hallways of the practice, rounding at the hospital or away from work. Functionality includes chart review, patient lists, schedule, search, messaging, e-prescribing, dictation and clinical image capture.

Physician Access for iPad

Canto offers access to Epic charts, messaging and other EMR functions. Physicians can use the dashboard-style front end to check schedules, respond to messages, dictate notes and review lab results from anywhere. Rounding physicians can get up to speed on patients before entering their rooms and dictate notes or send messages immediately after leaving.

Freestanding PHR Lucy is a PHR that is not connected to any facility's electronic medical record system. It stays with patients wherever they receive care and allows them to organize their medical information in one place that is readily accessible. Patients can enter health data directly into Lucy, pull in MyChart data or upload standards-compliant Continuity of Care Documents from other facilities.

Epic's Care Everywhere software can also retrieve documents from Lucy, making this information available to clinicians as part of the electronic chart. It's patient-guided interoperability.

Lucy is free of the two primary obstacles to patient PHR adoption:

1. There are no advertisements on Lucy. 2. Epic will not sell patient data for secondary uses.

Shared Medical Record for Community Providers EpicCare Link makes your organization an attractive choice for referring physicians by giving them secure, Web-based access to information about the care you provide their patients. Sharing patient information with authorized providers helps them follow the progress of care for patients they refer to your organization and improves their ability to coordinate ongoing care. Secure messaging functions allow external physicians to offer electronic consults. EpicCare Link also makes the entire referral process faster and more efficient. For a tighter connection to community physicians, learn how Epic customers are extending a shared EMR . Web Access for Providers EpicWeb allows true anytime/anyplace access to patient information by allowing providers to login to the Epic system from any PC with a Web browser. Once online, users can access major clinical features including care documentation, chart review, incidental order entry (with decision support) and secure messaging. EpicWeb allows physicians working from any location at home, in the office, and even on vacation to use the patient's entire medical record to make well-informed decisions. Users can also access provider schedules, benefit and eligibility information, referral authorizations and account balances. Services for Providers and Employers PlanLink gives provider and payor organizations a competitive advantage by making distinctive services available to employers and community providers via the Web. Providers can submit referrals, receive approval notifications and review statuses of AP claims they are involved with. Payors can allow providers to print remittance advice reports, saving phone calls and mailing expenses. PlanLink's payor functionality also allows employers to access their online premium invoices for payment and reconciliation, as well as manage the online enrollment process for their employees

Practice Management

Ambulatory Registration

Prelude Enterprise Registration makes registration intuitive, efficient and virtually error-proof. Prelude provides tailored workflows, wizards and extensive error checking to help users complete registrations swiftly and accurately. Rules-based work queues efficiently organize follow-up activity according to flexible criteria, targeting problem registrations and delegating follow-up to the appropriate staff.

Scheduling

Cadence Enterprise Scheduling makes it easy for users to schedule any type of visit or procedure from anywhere in your organization. It also enhances your ability to keep appropriate slots Open, take patient preferences into account and deliver high-quality service that can differentiate your organization.

Cadence serves as an intelligent partner for users, providing context-specific instructions, conflict checking and solutions for complicated appointment searches. Comprehensive rules-based scheduling features accommodate the needs of each clinician, room and piece of equipment – optimizing the use of staff and capital resources throughout your organization.

Professional Billing

Resolute Professional Billing helps reduce A/R days, produces accurate claims, allows paperless collection processes and streamlines data entry. With Resolute, your billing office can easily track revenue from individual billing entities, divisions or markets. Its configurable library of medical necessity checks and charge/claims scrubbing routines help you reduce denials and satisfy demanding payors. The system sends clean, accurate claims using a variety of HIPAA-compliant transaction formats - resulting in prompt and accurate reimbursement.

Resolute's comprehensive reporting tools allow executives to analyze financial performance, leading to more informed operational decisions.

The Benefits of One Bill Organizations that use Epic for both professional and hospital billing can take advantage of integrated Single Billing Office (SBO) features:

• A single bill and payment plan increases patient satisfaction. • A single account simplifies follow-up and back office staffing. • A single point of customer service is convenient for patients and simplifies administration.

Call Management

Customer Relationship Management/Call Management enhances customer service communications by storing patient information, service issues, and contact histories in a central location. The system allows users to effectively document, route, monitor, and resolve customer service inquiries from patients. The system's integrated reporting tools help you conduct detailed analysis of your organization's customer service, from evaluating individual patient/staff relationships to measuring the overall responsiveness of an entire facility, entity or department.

Inpatient Registration, ADT and Hospital Billing

Enterprise Registration - Inpatient Access

ADT/Prelude Enterprise Inpatient Registration improves bed utilization and gives users the tools to manage hospital stays from pre-admission through discharge. Clinicians can access an efficient census workspace that allows them to view and update current information on patients in their care. Flexible work queues help nurses and other staff members plan for upcoming ADT events, follow up on missing or inconsistent data and assess utilization.

Enterprise Scheduling Cadence Enterprise Scheduling makes it easy for users to schedule any type of visit or procedure from anywhere in your organization. It also enhances your ability to keep appropriate slots open, take patient preferences into account and deliver high-quality service that will distinguish your organization.

Hospital Billing

Resolute Hospital Billing coordinates inpatient and outpatient billing for hospitals. It gives your front- and back-office staff the tools they need to streamline billing and collection processes, reduce payor denials and minimize A/R days. Resolute's features support billing staff throughout the hospital, helping you improve your financial performance and encouraging excellent patient service.

Drawing information directly from the EpicCare clinical system, Resolute automatically completes appropriate fields and submits claims in HIPAA-compliant transaction formats. Extensive rules-based claim scrubbing accelerates reimbursement and minimizes rejected claims, even with the most demanding payors. Comprehensive reporting tools help executives track and report on all aspects of financial performance.

Call Management

Customer Relationship Management/Call Management enhances customer service communications by storing patient information, service issues and contact histories in a central location. The system allows users to effectively document, route, monitor and resolve customer service inquiries from patients. The system's integrated reporting tools help you conduct detailed analysis of your organization's customer service, from evaluating individual patient/staff relationships to measuring the overall responsiveness of an entire facility, entity or department.

Integrated Managed Care Systems for Providers and Payors

Managed Care Administration for Medical Groups Tapestry automates key workflows and tasks associated with managed care administration, helping provider organizations manage risk and maintain strong, collaborative relationships with payors. For providers, the system helps manage authorizations, maintain the eligibility of your members, and pays claims for your at-risk membership. A comprehensive Benefits Engine makes it easy to handle copays, co-insurance deductibles, maximum out of pocket limits, tiered benefits and more - allowing users to make informed decisions and minimize errors. Health Plan Operations for Payors Tapestry is a comprehensive, flexible system designed to help health plans manage operations across all lines of business. It gives payor organizations the tools necessary to meet the needs of members, employers, affiliates and the providers that serve them. Tapestry automates eligibility tracking, premium billing, utilization management and contracting/claims operations using sophisticated benefit plans and contracts. It also works seamlessly with Epic's clinical, financial and access applications wherever they are implemented in your affiliated delivery networks. xxxxEpic's integrated, Web-based PlanLink application simplifies communications and information sharing with employers, agents, providers and members. Payors can use PlanLink to make online enrollment, eligibility summaries, referral requests, AP claims review and customer service messaging available. Enterprise Intelligence

Epic's integrated analytics and reporting – collectively named Cogito ergo sum – delivers current clinical intelligence and business intelligence based on role and workflow. "Intelligence" can mean something different to each user, so Epic provides a combination of flexible tools, content, data sources, distribution, training, and process to support decisions throughout the health system with the best information available.

For the Clinician/User : Cogito presents clinicians with information that can improve the care they give – and lets them see how well they are doing. Every physician, nurse, scheduler or biller can start the day on a role-based Radar screen that provides a visual representation of what's important. As a user, the dashboard informs your day with trends, tasks and messages pertinent to your role and configurable to your preferences. More than 500 roles are currently in our library, including more than 100 specialized physician roles alone. Physicians and other members of the care team, empowered by analytics, hold the potential to help create a learning healthcare organization.

For the Manager : Cogito gives insight into how departments are doing and provides tools to better departmental performance. Dashboards and benchmarking metrics help identify areas for improvement, whether the opportunity lies in personnel training, process redesign or a change to the care model.

For the Clinical Leader : Embedded clinical intelligence can guide quality improvement with dashboards that aggregate and compare clinical performance across departments and facilities. Dashboards in development will provide visual comparisons to anonymized benchmarks of organizational KPIs, both clinical and financial.

For the Business Leader : Financial professionals and analysts use Epic's revenue dashboards to actively manage and work their revenue cycle metrics. Clinical integration allows for easier analysis of charge data, in addition to traditional revenue analytics like denial trends and AR composition. The Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW, in development) will provide a platform for combining Epic data with data from other systems in your enterprise, as appropriate.

Disease Registries and Data Marts Cogito provides a library of pre-built registries and analytical Data Marts for prevalant chronic conditions, as well as a dozen wellness registries. They help clinicians identify patients with important care considerations and make it practical for clinical leaders to manage key populations. These building blocks enable population management to be integrated in the patient chart and woven throughout clinical processes and decision support rules. They also greatly simplify measurement against goals and research study design.

Quality and Compliance our library has more than 2,500 shared reports built by customers and Epic. Of that collection, many are focused on satisfying the needs of formalized quality and compliance programs – including PQRI, NCQA, HEDIS and Core Measures.

Meaningful Use metric collection is built into all clinical workflows as a standard part of implementation and training. Certified and tested Meaningful Use reports are included and delivered to the appropriate staff, based on role. A large relative percentage of early Meaningful Use attestors have used Epic EHRs and Epic-provided content to meet the requirements of the program.

Open Analytics Environment Cogito frees your Epic data for use in any number of industry-standard analytical and visualization tools. We provide a growing library of SAP Business Objects Universes that aggregate and translate complex data structures into simple terms. From these Universes, non-technical staff can quickly build presentation-ready Xcelsius dashboards and Web Intelligence (WebI) reports. Built on one database before it was cool.

Enterprise Data Repository – Unified Clinical and Financial Record Epicenter is the patient-centric information backbone for all Epic's software—capturing all clinical, financial and operational data related to a patient and organizing it into a consistent record accessible to users across the care continuum. It is the key connectivity point that supports cross-functional workflows, powers centralized decision support and eliminates interfaces.

Healthcare Data Management System

A foundational component of Epicenter is the open Chronicles Extended Relational Database Management System , the high-performance data engine at the heart of our integrated product suite. Chronicles has no built-in capacity limits. It supports thousands of concurrent users and millions of records while still providing excellent response times.

Chronicles drives Epic's outstanding response times and scalability, giving us the edge in serving the largest, most complex healthcare organizations.

Enterprise Master Person Index

Identity EMPI keeps your database clean by eliminating duplicate records and by actively preventing users from creating them in the first place. Uniting demographic, registration, and encounter data from all of your Epic and non-Epic systems, Identity compares a broad sample of identifying information to evaluate patient records. It then applies multiple logical comparisons that account for misspellings, typos, nicknames, names that sound alike and even maiden names. Streamlined utilities make it easy to merge records when duplicates are found and to unmerge patient records when necessary.

Identity can organize IDs from external systems, allowing you to cross-reference patient records and access them using their medical record numbers from external or legacy systems.

Connectivity

Epic has decades of practice connecting outside software to our integrated system. We maintain hundreds of pre-built interfaces to leading non-Epic HIT systems that you can license as is or tweak to meet your needs.

Interfacing The Bridges Interface Toolkit facilitates interface maintenance with a real-time interface monitor, a usage statistics utility, an error logging utility and an interactive error-analysis report. It allows customers to manage the interfaces they have purchased from our standard library of HL7, ANSI X12, and XML interfaces, and allows us to maintain flexibility in data mapping and formatting. Bridges can also be used to support interface transactions in a fixed format or other non-standard data formats. Patient Monitoring Devices Epic has the ability to connect to a wide range of patient monitoring devices. Multiple patient monitoring devices can be connected to flowsheets, rather than charting manually. Once in the Epic system, data from devices can be graphed, reported on and monitored for trends – improving overall care delivery. Epic offers a standard HL7 Device Formatted Medical Device Interface that can be used for receiving discrete alphanumeric data from monitoring systems. Most major manufacturers already have an option for HL7 interfacing, alleviating the need for a third-party middleware solution. CCOW compatibility Epic supports the Clinical Context Object Workgroup standard for coordination of different applications. Working in conjunction with third-party context management software, the Epic user interface can accept the current user, patient and encounter contexts for a session from a non-Epic application, so the user does not need to re-enter this information. Similarly, Epic's interface can transmit the user, patient and encounter contexts to other applications. Standards-based Health Information Exchange Epic puts interoperable record sharing in the hands of physicians and patients. Learn more about Epic xxxxInteroperability .

Client Services

Strong focus With our small client base, we can give your organization personal service and support. From initial implementation and training through ongoing support and optimization, our approach to customer care is culture-rooted and process-focused. As a result, our customers consistently rate us highly for keeping promises - as well as for staying on-time and on-budget.

Faster installs cost less Our development of a pre-built model and standardized e-learning gets your organization up and running sooner – and at a lower cost. Our community rollout options help affiliated providers benefit from a unified record for the patients you share.

Implementation

Validation-based Implementation

Epic's validation-based implementation approach is built upon the best practices gained from 34 years of successful implementations. Our approach combines established processes with the flexibility to accommodate each client's unique objectives for improving patient services. This approach will help you go live, on schedule, with a system that meets your workflow and functionality needs. A key part of our methodology is our Model System, which provides a starting point for validating pre-built configurations based on the best content and workflows used at our customers' sites. This configuration for our applications streamlines the system build process and will help support safe, quality care.

Our structured install process will guide your implementation planning, taking you week by week through each phase of the process. The result is a faster implementation that better meets your individual workflow needs.

Model System

The Model System is a version of our system that comes pre-populated with settings, sample reports, and both clinical and specialty starter sets. This information comes from the wealth of data that our customers share, and allows our customers to take advantage of the good work others have done before them. The Model System makes installing, learning, and using Epic much faster, as our customers can apply the knowledge and content from other successful Epic implementations.

Process Engineering

Epic's implementation teams contain experts who bring years of real-life experience to bear on helping you capitalize on your organization's Epic software investment. These specialists help you trim steps and eliminate wasteful redundancies from your core workflows. They have the unique perspective of not knowing "how it's always been done" at your organization so they can help you decide how to improve your processes.

Training

Total Recall Training

Project team members and key end users experience training in state-of-the-art training facilities in Verona, Wisconsin. The interactive, hands-on classes introduce participants to the software, discuss how it will impact workflows, prepare them for the rigorous certification process and provide a foundation for a successful implementation.

Training Wheels, Epic's end-user learning package, prepares end users to use the system on the first day of go-live through a robust curriculum of preparatory e-learning lessons, lesson plans, hands-on exercises, post-training e-learning lessons, "quick start guides" and optimization materials. These materials are tailored to specific roles and are scenario-driven. e-Learning

Interactive, scenario-based e-learning programs are available for nearly all of Epic's applications and include strategies for different learning styles. These e-learning modules will help your staff get up and running quickly. For example, our tutorials guide your clinicians through basic workflows as well as our Hyperspace user interface, allowing them to learn at their own pace. E-learning can be used as a standalone learning tool or in conjunction with formal, instructor-led end-user training.

Optimization

Epic is a strong partner who not only works with you to make your go-live a success, but continues the relationship with valuable, ongoing support to make sure you're getting the results you expected. We are committed to understanding your unique needs and maintaining a long-term partnership to help you get the most from your software.

Our optimization team works on-site with your staff to ensure your continued success with the system. In our Success Check system, we consult with your frontline users to answer their questions, address their difficulties, fine-tune their daily workflows and reassess their training needs. We provide you with ongoing support for your current version of the software, and we help you implement new functionality after each upgrade.

Architecture

Epic maintains specialized technical teams that have experience working with the very largest EMR implementations. They will help you plan a flexible, scalable hardware foundation that fits your budget, your workflows and your plans for future growth. Epic performs scalability and stress-testing in conjunction with client organizations and with a variety of hardware vendors. We use real data and real workflows to ensure meaningful benchmark results and accurate system sizing.

Content

Clinical Starter Sets

Our Model System includes content developed by Epic and Epic clients for use with the EpicCare clinical system, so you can benefit from work done by other organizations without creating it from the ground up. Built-in Specialty Starter Sets help you create an optimized system for particular specialties while requiring minimal overhead.

Community Library Exchange

Gain from the expertise of some of the most progressive healthcare organizations in the country. Epic's Community Library Exchange fosters a collaborative environment for the advancement of best practice guidelines and open communication among peers. It provides a rich online collection of application tools and pre-made content. You can share care templates, custom forms, enterprise report formats, and documentation shortcuts. You can use these tools right from the library or customize them to meet your specific needs.

Evidence Based Clinical Practice Guidelines

Organizations have the option of licensing Clinical Practice Model (CPM) content from Epic for use in EpicCare. This content includes care plan templates, general care plan interventions, and patient teaching topics and education points. CPM's consortium of customers update and author new guidelines, and CPM has a process for continually updating the content based on research and clinical specialty review. This allows Epic and Epic's clients to receive new and updated content as clinical care and best practices change.

Community Connect: Extending to Independent Physicians and Hospitals

Epic provides large organizations with structured methods for extending a shared electronic record system to independent physician practices and community hospitals. Participating in an Epic shared record solves many of the challenges community providers have with Meaningful Use and interoperability. It does so in a way that's better for patients and less expensive to implement.

You share patients. It makes sense to share their records.

Continuity of care and content.

Sharing costs less and is less risky.

Details for independent practices: • Includes turnkey e-learning content for self-guided user training and assessment. • Enables rollout to multiple practices on quick timelines. • Supports specialists with appropriate order sets and documentation tools. • Includes one-time and monthly licensing options for users.

Details for community hospitals:

Meaningful Use

Epic can help. The HITECH portion of the ARRA stimulus package allocates funding for per-hospital and per-physician incentives for those who demonstrate "Meaningful Use" of EHRs. Epic can help you understand the criteria in each stage of the program as they are developed and formalized. We can also provide the software and processes to help you maximize the long-term beneficial effects of stimulus initiatives on your organization.

• Install quickly - with a robust pre-built model that simplifies implementation and configures easily to your situation. • Let patients do more - via online results and health reminders. Self service refills, scheduling and bill pay make patients happy while saving you money. • Be more profitable - with permanent improvements to physician productivity and a central source for enterprise intelligence.

If you're in a small physician practice and wish to piggyback on a successful EHR implementation, contact Epic for a list of Epic customers who share their system with the community.

Third Party Collaboration

Industry Involvement Epic is actively involved in numerous industry associations and standards development initiatives where vendors, providers and policy experts discuss interoperability and collaboration opportunities.

Complementary products and people to simplify your project Epic maintain relationships with leading third-party content suppliers, consultants and hardware vendors. Work with your health system's Epic contact to learn how the experience and products of these vendors can complement our integrated software. Community Connect Credentialed Consultants can help with an EHR rollout to independent practices and community hospitals.

Industry Memberships ASTM International :: www.astm.org

Accredited Standard Committee X12 (ASC X12) :: www.x12.org

American National Standards Institute (ANSI) :: www.ansi.org

College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) :: www.cio-chime.org

Committee on Operating Rules for Information Exchange (CORE) :: www.caqh.org

Data Interchange Standards Association (DISA) :: www.disa.org

Electronic Health Record Association (EHRA) :: www.himssehra.org

HIMSS AFEHCT Business Information Systems Initiative :: www.afehct.org

Health Level Seven (HL7) :: www.hl7.org

Healthcare Domain Task Force of Object Management Group (OMG) :: healthcare.omg.org

Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) :: www.himss.org

IHE :: www.ihe.net IHE is an initiative by healthcare professionals and industry to improve the way computer systems in healthcare share information. IHE promotes the coordinated use of established standards such as DICOM and HL7 to address specific clinical needs in support of optimal patient care.

While providing a single integrated system, Epic enables customers to interface with other systems using a wide variety of standard and custom interfaces, including IHE-defined workflows and actors. Epic traditionally showcases IHE interoperability at the HIMSS IHE showcase and tests interoperability with a variety of vendors at the North American IHE Connectathon.

Epic IHE integration statements:

• Care Everywhere • Lucy • Patient Care Devices • Radiant and Cardiant • Research

Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) :: www.wedi.org

Third-Party Vendors

Epic works with many third parties in the categories listed below. For information about specific vendors in these areas, Epic customers can visit the UserWeb or email [email protected]

• Address Verification • Appointment Reminders • Clinical Content and Decision Support • Clinical Terminology • Document Management Systems • Drug Databases • ePrescribing • Patient Education • Reporting • Revenue Cycle Support • Laboratories • Medical Devices and Device Connectivity • PACS • Security and Authentication • Systems Technology and Hardware • Voice Recognition

Community Connect Credentialed Consultants

We work with groups specifically experienced with small physician practices and community hospitals. These consulting groups agree to use only Epic-certified staff and to provide services at a fixed price per practice. Epic regularly evaluates each firm on a number of factors, including adherence to timeline & cost, client satisfaction and community practice happiness. Firms meet regularly with E pic to stay abreast of the newest tools and best practices. Services offered include:

• Sales & Marketing • Financing • Install • Hardware Procurement and Placement • Networking • End-User Support