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What is an Epic Hospital System?

In the 21st century, more and more emphasis is being placed on electronic record-keeping in the medical field. This allows doctors anywhere to access patient records when they are consulted or faced with an emergency. It also allows patients to access their charts and see exactly what the doctor has written. Epic Systems Corporation of Madison, Wisconsin is not the largest provider of medical software, but has made inroads into the market.

  1. Software for the Physician

    • Epic Systems offers a wide selection of software directly to physicians practicing in more than 100 specialties. This software is used both for patient care and records, as well as for office management. On the patient care side, Epic claims to reduce costs by doing things like: efficiently scheduling appointments, reducing unneeded tests, expediting the ordering process, minimizing medication errors, reducing insurance costs, and more. On the management side it claims to help: facilitate new patient registration, ease the scheduling of procedures, facilitate cash flow management in the office, and much more.

    Advantages for The Patient

    • Through their interactive software, "MyChart," patients can see the same chart the doctor uses, make appointments, and get results of tests. "Lucy" is an Epic system, which lets the patient keep a health diary so that the doctor can see the patient's input.

    Epic in the Hospital

    • In the emergency room, Epic claims to help with quick and efficient patient care by having: point-and-click records, support from the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), and a direct link to the pharmacy. It helps with inpatient management by: registering new patients, handling billing issues, handling bed availability, and by dealing with other problems. The system also allows the hospital to share records with physicians once the patient is released.

    Is It All Good?

    • Epic Systems have had some negative experiences. Kaiser Permanente, the health care giant, uses the Epic system. In 2006, an employee of Kaiser Permanente in Los Angeles, vociferously criticized the implementation process of the Epic software. Epic defended its software and Kaiser Permantete continued to use Epic's services.

    What do the Doctors Think

    • Doctors have widely diverse opinions not only of Epic, but of electronic record- keeping in general. While most agree that it reduces costs, and at times, expedites patient treatment, many feel that patient confidentiality is lost.

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