Lulz. Watching a lecture and the professor is raving about our relationship with major local companies. He keeps saying "Epic Gaming Systems" (clearly he means Epic Games, since the slide is on the logo) and he says he recently learned of two new interns that went to Epic Games in Madison WI.

Epic is a healthcare company in WI. *facepalm*

1/9/2013 9:32:33 PM

1/9/2013 9:35:04 PM

Haha I love this. I honestly didn't know about Epic Systems until I started working in and around healthcare. When we began discussing a change in billing software and weighing the options, Epic came out way ahead. A few folks toured the campus in WI and said it was growing astronomically (especially due to new healthcare laws). They are very much the SAS of Wisconsin. Funny how a company like this could be mistaken for a video game company that has about 2% of the work force. They now own all medical billing in the Triangle and are going to make like a billion dollars off the combined contracts from Duke/WakeMed/UNC alone. Big advantage though for all of us as patients, in about 3 years you should have one electronic medical record that can follow you between any of the local hospitals and most doctors offices.

1/10/2013 8:26:58 AM

^ we just went live with our Epic push. Fun times here.

[Edited on January 10, 2013 at 9:48 AM. Reason : ]

1/10/2013 9:48:10 AM

haha, Epic Games is right next to the Crossroads 20 Movie theater in Cary.

I think Epic Systems biggest competitor is Allscripts, and they have been outperforming them for the past few years. The biggest downside to Epic is it's a closed system, whereas Allscripts is an open system, which will integrate with anyone. Epic is a one-size fits all solution, which works for most hospitals, but it doesn't work for networked hospitals UNLESS they ALL buy Epic.

[Edited on January 10, 2013 at 9:53 AM. Reason : -]

1/10/2013 9:51:43 AM

1/10/2013 10:39:17 AM

1/10/2013 12:12:09 PM

I thought AllScripts had some trouble a few months ago with their CEO.


I always thought Cerner was the biggest provider out there. After that I thought Epic and AllScripts. There's GE Healthcare which is what we moved away from. There's also Siemens and McKesson, but I'm not sure what they offer exactly with EHM/EHR systems if it's a complete package or parts.


Epic's closed system is a downside. You must go to their campus for training. You can go nowhere else. There may not be 3rd party support, but they do have a ton of different "options" for whatever you might want.

1/10/2013 12:22:52 PM

Yes, the CEO was terminated, and the new CEO is the former COO of Cerner, Paul Black.

Closed systems aren't ideal for networked hospitals, because what one hospital can afford, another may not. So Epic is really only getting the well-funded mega hospitals, which is great for their bottom line, but they lose a lot of market-share because of their high costs, closed systems, and as-is software solution.

1/10/2013 12:52:38 PM

1/10/2013 12:54:27 PM

1/10/2013 12:55:21 PM

I had thought with the new law that it wouldn't matter the system since all records were to be in a format that is compatible with any system. I think it was PPACA that is mandating that. I know HITECH started it, but I thought it was PPACA that the main reason. Our Meaningful Use person is in the office next to mine and from our talks is where I am basing this on. I could be completely wrong and misunderstood her though..lol


All I do is focus on the network and making sure the Epic folks have enough storage and everything is up and running like it should be. So my knowledge about this is just what I learn form the folks I talk with.

1/10/2013 2:17:01 PM

1/10/2013 2:49:37 PM