Written By: Brent Benner
Although this episode came out more than a year ago, I somehow missed Acquired’s podcast on Epic. If you have worked in the Epic ecosystem, or if you are just curious how Epic became such a dominant force in healthcare, it is worth a listen. They do a strong job covering the history of EHRs, the rise of Epic, and why the company has been able to separate itself in the market. From my time at Epic, and from many of the stories I heard and experienced firsthand, most of it rings true.
Here are the seven observations from the episode that landed the most with me, plus one area where I’d push the conversation a bit further.
- One integrated platform is the heart of the strategy. It’s also what’s best for patients, providers and health plan members.
Although it was bold, it was a true testament of Judy’s will to do what is best for patients. When she told Kaiser it was “all or nothing” and refused to let them split the implementation between Epic for Ambulatory and Cerner for Inpatient, she made it clear that integration is the right thing to do.
- Customer trust is a major moat.
Time and again, I have heard customers talk about how different it is to work with a vendor like Epic that “keeps commitments” (see Epic Principle #4) and delivers. That stands out even more when compared with many of the vendors that support legacy core administration platforms and compete with Epic Tapestry.
- Epic’s culture is unusually intentional
I had the privilege of working across many clients during Epic Tapestry implementations, often for 18 to 24 months at a time, and I have worked with other organizations since leaving Epic as well. Epic’s culture is strong, and a major part of the company’s success. At Canopii, we try to be equally intentional about culture and focus on what actually matters to employees, not just surface-level perks.
- The whimsical campus is functional, not just eccentric.
I really do miss the campus and it is inspiring. I shudder every time I’m onsite with customers and cooped up in a windowless conference room of bleh. A little paint and some art goes a long way in creating an environment that actually inspires the people working in it..
- Epic’s market power comes from successful implementations that do not fail.
The implications of a failed EHR (or Core Admin) implementation are too significant to tolerate. And yet lots of clients have experienced one. Epic (and Canopii) have a fantastic track record of delivering successful implementations.
- Epic (and the US) benefited from healthcare digitization, but digitization did not equal transformation.
It is hard to argue that we are not better off with EHRs. But we still have a long way to go before healthcare sees the full impact that many hoped for.
- The next frontier is what happens after digitization.
Epic’s Cosmos has the potential to be revolutionary. Appropriately applying AI to the data at a micro and macro level can finally deliver the transformation that basic EHR adoption alone did not.
One Area Where the Story Gets Too Simplified
The podcast touches on what comes next for Epic, but this is the one area where I think the conversation could go further.
Epic built its position by digitizing some of healthcare’s most complex workflows. As Epic expands across the ecosystem, especially into payer, life sciences, genomics, and more, the challenge fundamentally changes.
The next challenge is not simply digitizing healthcare. It is reinventing how healthcare actually works.
Healthcare does not just need better digital versions of legacy workflows. It needs better workflows altogether. That means fewer handoffs, less manual work, better real-time data exchange, stronger payer-provider collaboration, and support for new reimbursement and care models.
That creates enormous opportunity, but it also raises the bar.
Epic, healthcare organizations, and partners like Canopii have to do more than implement and optimize existing software. We have to help define best practices for workflows that are still taking shape, guide organizations through operational change, and help lead the industry through a true transformation.
That is the next chapter. And while it may be the hardest one yet, it is also the most exciting.
