We’ve written a lot of posts over the years about some of the challenges that Epic has faced as it’s grown its EHR business. In fact, Anne Zieger’s post yesterday about a Hospital Credit Rating Lowered due to their Epic Project is one example. However, I was really struck by this reader submitted article on HIStalk.
The article is written by a “Long-Time Epic Customer”. You don’t get the sense that this customer is bitter or has any real dog in the fight. In fact, if anything this customer seems to have a love for Epic and they want Epic to win the EHR battle. However, they’re concerned by the changes that they’ve seen in Epic as its grown. His a paragraph from the article:
We installed Epic years ago, but have seen a vast difference between our prior experience and a recent rollout of newer products. The method where time was taken to help us build our own system has been replaced by a rushed, prefab Model system installed by staff where even the advisers and escalation points at Epic have little knowledge of their applications. Epic has always had newer people, but it was much more common to have advisers during the install who did have experience to watch for pitfalls.
The writer then goes on to describe how Epic seems to be investing in the wrong things. “We’re getting answers, solutions, fixes, and reports slower than ever.”
I think the reason many of things really struck a chord with me is that they’re matching up with many of the things I’ve seen and heard. Based on some real anecdotal things I’ve heard I won’t be surprised if Judy decides to get out of the day to day work at Epic sometime soon. We’ll see how it plays out, but an Epic without Judy at the helm will be quite different.
