Do Epic And Interoperability Interface? Depends On Whom You Ask

The nation’s largest electronic medical record vendor has an image problem. Verona, Wis.-based Epic has come under fire this year over its lack of interoperability, spurring the company, once well known for its mum relationship with the press, to speak up.  Just this August, Epic inked a deal with lobbying firm Card & Associates to work on its interoperability image – one that has left a perception that Epic has a closed system that does not easily work well with other EHR systems.

"There's been a lot of misinformation out there," said A. Bradford Card, the firm's principal, to Politico. "I've had a number of productive meetings with Congress to educate members and staff so they know who Epic is and the great story they have to tell. They are the most interoperable EHR company."

But many industry stakeholders don’t seem to agree.  “Epic's plan for interoperability is for everyone to use Epic. … or pay a boatload for data transfer,” wrote Rebecca Coelius, former medical officer for innovation at ONC, in a Healthcare IT News comment. “It’s going to take a strategy update, not a PR firm, to fix this one.”...