We’re Fighting EPIC, Too

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A couple of years ago, Amy Walsh, MD, wrote on this blog about EPIC. If you don’t know them, they are a behemoth EMR that has taken over the country’s healthcare system. And they do not attempt to hide their wealth. Amy shared this quote from an article she referenced:


The EPIC campus is an amalgamation of themed buildings: Harry Potter, Jungle Safari, Alice in Wonderland, etc

It is a decadent display of healthcare wealth, and gives you a sense of how much money is really in the system.

All of this wealth is made from the good little physician cogs that keep the system running.

Well, I am here to tell you that they are not done. Here is an recent article about how AI is affecting them:

Epic now commands 43.7% of the acute-care EHR market, giving the company significant leverage as it expands its AI capabilities. The company claims that its software is installed in more than 3,700 hospitals, and more than 325 million patients now have medical records in Epic.

The AI boom could strengthen Epic’s position in the market as the window for competing with the health IT giant is narrowing, according to health system leaders. 

The funny thing is that I have NEVER heard of any doctor saying anything nice about EPIC. Zero, Nada. Zilch. How about health administrators, you ask?

Seventy-one percent of health system leaders describe their organizations as “Epic-first,” and 80% of those executives expect that bias to intensify over the next three to five years, according to a recent survey of 112 senior health system leaders, including chief executive officers, chief information officers, chief medical information officers and vice presidents.

Yeah, they love it. It makes you wonder why that is. I will let your imagination go wild on that.

For Direct Primary Care, there are great EHRs out there, and none of them are EPIC.

Hooray!!!

It’s another reason to support the rebel alliance….er….I mean the DPC movement.

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About Douglas Farrago, MD

Dr. Farrago is a retired family physician based in Forest, Virginia. Since 2021, he has run DPCnews.com, a leading resource for the Direct Primary Care (DPC) movement. He is the author of three best-selling books on Direct Primary Care: The Official Guide to Starting Your Own Direct Primary Care Practice The Direct Primary Care Doctor’s Daily Motivational Journal Slowing the Churn in Direct Primary Care (While Also Keeping Your Sanity) In 2016, Dr. Farrago conceived the idea for the Direct Primary Care Alliance and co-founded the organization alongside other pioneering DPC physicians. He is widely recognized as a leading expert in the DPC model and frequently lectures to medical students, residents, and practicing physicians on how to successfully start and run their own DPC practices.Dr. Farrago sold his Direct Primary Care practice in October 2020 but continues to receive care there as a patient.