Healthcare professionals use it extensively to access patient information, plan interventions, and make healthcare decisions. Connecting Epic to other hospital systems remains one of the biggest problems in healthcare IT.
Healthcare organizations that try to connect Epic EHRs struggle not because they don't try hard enough, but mainly because of the complexity of the systems that have been added over time. This complexity includes legacy systems, varied formats, and large volumes of data that can't be handled. It is only logical to understand a workable solution to the matter.
1. Lack of interoperability between different systems
Using a combination of industry standards such as HL7, FHIR, and C-CDA, Epic's implementation of these standards varies across vendors, versions, and configurations. When a hospital attempts to link Epic to a billing system, lab platform, or an external analytics tool, data translation issues arise when fields do not correspond. Terminologies are contradictory. For example, 'patient status' in one system hardly matches with another.
The consequence is reduced clinical oversight and hindered decision-making. To tackle this, aside from an API connection, a separate data normalization layer is needed to standardize information across systems before it is used in downstream tools.
Effective strategies involve navigating legacy systems and technical limitations to unlock the full potential of healthcare data. Read the full insights on overcoming EHR integration challenges.