Who Epic is best for
Epic Systems is an employee-owned software company founded in 1979 and based in Verona, Wisconsin. Its EHR puts inpatient, outpatient, billing and patient tools on one record. Epic says more than 325 million patients have a current electronic record in its software, which is used in hospitals, academic medical centers, children's organizations, urgent care, behavioral health and independent practices.
Best for
- Health systems and hospitals that want clinical, scheduling and billing work on one database
- Large multispecialty groups, including independent groups of more than 40 providers through Garden Plot
- Small practices affiliated with a hospital that offers Epic through Community Connect
Not ideal for
- Solo and small independent practices with no health-system partner
- Practices that want published pricing, a short sales cycle or full control of their own configuration
Epic pros and cons
Pros
- One record across hospital, clinic, emergency and specialty care
- MyChart gives patients records, messaging, scheduling and bill pay
- Care Everywhere exchanges more than 30 million records a day, about half with non-Epic systems, according to Epic
- Built-in AI: Art for clinicians, Emmie for patients and Penny for revenue cycle
- Over 1,000 public API and interface specifications on open.epic.com
- Epic says it has been ranked #1 Overall Software Suite by KLAS for 16 years
Cons
- No published pricing; contracts are negotiated directly or through a host system
- Community Connect practices inherit the host's configuration, upgrade schedule and often its billing rules
- Garden Plot is limited to groups with more than 40 providers
Epic pricing
Epic does not publish prices, and there is no self-serve plan. There are three ways in:
- Direct license: large organizations negotiate directly with Epic.
- Community Connect: since 2007, health systems have extended their Epic instance to nearby medical groups. Epic said in its 2022 Garden Plot announcement that almost 40,000 providers use Epic this way. The host sets the price, which typically depends on users, locations, modules and support, and some hosts subsidize part of the cost.
- Garden Plot: a software-as-a-service option Epic launched in March 2022 for independent primary and specialty care groups with more than 40 providers. Epic handles hosting, support and updates. Pricing is not published.
Key features
- Clinical documentation and ordering across ambulatory and inpatient settings, with specialty content
- Scheduling, registration and revenue cycle tools for professional and hospital billing
- MyChart: patient portal and mobile app for results, messaging, scheduling and payments
- Care Everywhere: health information exchange with Epic and non-Epic organizations
- Hello World: automated text and voice outreach to patients
- Epic AI: Art (AI charting and documentation for clinicians), Emmie (AI for patients) and Penny (AI and automation for the revenue cycle)
HIPAA, security and integrations
Epic publishes ONC certification details on its site and describes its generative AI pipeline as HIPAA-compliant. Security terms and BAAs are set in each customer contract, or by the host system in Community Connect. Under Garden Plot, Epic hosts the system and manages updates.
For integration, Epic offers FHIR-based APIs and more than 1,000 freely available specifications on open.epic.com. Care Everywhere handles record exchange with other organizations.
Epic alternatives
- athenahealth (athenaOne) — cloud EHR, billing and patient engagement that independent practices can buy directly.
- eClinicalWorks — ambulatory EHR and PM used by practices of all sizes, without needing a hospital host.
- NextGen Healthcare — ambulatory EHR and PM for mid-size specialty and multispecialty groups.
- ModMed — specialty-specific EHR for dermatology, orthopedics, ophthalmology and similar fields.
- Elation Health — primary care EHR for independent and value-based practices.
