Oracle Health stands apart from Epic, its main rival in the EHR market, because of its user interface, the company's leader said in an earnings call.
Larry Ellison, co-founder, chair and chief technology officer of Oracle, said the company is integrating artificial intelligence into all of its healthcare software, from preparing previsit summaries for physicians to logging in to the EHR.
"Our user interface is so different than Epic," he said in the Sept. 9 call. "This is how you find the X-rays for Larry Ellison. You say, 'Oracle, please show me Larry Ellison's latest X-ray.' It's a voice interface. You just ask for them.
"How do you log on? Well, you look at the computer and it recognizes your face. It recognizes your voice … knows you're the doctor and you're authorized to look at that. All the authorization is done with AI."
Oracle Health, formerly known as Cerner, has recently been involved in a (one-sided) war of words with Epic, with Oracle executives criticizing its top competitor's purported lack of interoperability and customers beyond healthcare providers. Epic, however, has only been increasing its hospital market share lead, which rose to 39.1% in 2023 (while Oracle Health fell to 23.1%). Epic also recently poached nine health system clients from Oracle Health.
During the earnings call, an analyst asked Mr. Ellison how generative AI app developers can monetize the software.
"When are we going to start monetizing it? Well, all of Cerner is the monetization," he said. "The fact that we can dramatically expand our health business is because it's based on AI. … It's not something you sell separately. It's the diagnostic system. It's the electronic health record system. The pharmacy system, this prescription system, the user authentication, the log-in system — it's all AI. …
"And I hear a bunch of applications companies say, 'Oh, we've now got AI agents. We'll charge for it separately.' Our applications are going to be primarily AI applications — everything. How do you charge separately for everything? I find it bewildering when I listen to them talk. I don't understand what they're saying."