Epic’s October included new AI capabilities, expanded third-party integrations, a prescription price comparison tool and continued EHR rollouts at some of the nation’s largest health systems.
Here are 15 Epic updates from October, as reported by Becker’s:
- Epic introduced AI Connectors, a capability that will allow its AI assistants and other software to retrieve information and complete tasks in third-party applications. The technology will work with Epic’s AI assistants Emmie, Art and Penny, as well as custom agents built through Agent Factory. Health systems will be able to discover developer-created Connectors through Epic Showroom beginning in March 2027.
- Epic outlined several interoperability and AI developments during its second annual Open@Epic conference Oct. 21-22. The event highlighted new opportunities for developers to connect applications to Epic’s AI agents, along with developments involving prescription pricing, patient identification and veterans’ access to specialty care.
- Epic has developed AI agents capable of executing clinical protocols and is exploring how they could help health systems manage portions of routine patient visits. Garrett Adams, Epic’s senior vice president of research and development, told Becker’s that the company is working with health systems to explore the capabilities, with physicians retaining oversight. Epic has not announced a release timeline.
- Epic is working with Amazon Pharmacy, Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs and other pharmacy companies on Prescription Marketplace, a tool that will allow clinicians and patients to compare cash and insurance prices for medications within Epic. The company plans to release the feature in summer 2027.
- Epic is developing a way to reduce infrastructure demands on health systems as more patients connect consumer AI chatbots to their medical records. Epic executives said the growing volume of API requests is increasing traffic on health systems’ infrastructure, creating additional costs for organizations.
- Epic is patching cybersecurity vulnerabilities identified through AI-assisted testing of its software. The company has intensified its focus on faster security updates and patching as healthcare organizations face growing threats to patient information.
- Some health systems are holding off on activating certain Epic AI capabilities as they evaluate clinical performance, workflow integration and return on investment. Epic has introduced AI assistants for clinicians, patients and revenue cycle teams, but health systems are taking different approaches to adoption.
- New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health completed a major scheduling conversion ahead of its Nov. 7 Epic go-live involving four hospitals and 538 ambulatory sites. The milestone is part of Northwell’s $1.2 billion Epic implementation, which aims to consolidate more than 30 legacy EHR platforms.
- Pittsburgh-based UPMC completed the second wave of its Epic implementation in early October, moving 15 hospitals and hundreds of ambulatory practices onto the platform. The rollout is part of UPMC’s effort to consolidate nine EHR systems.
- Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health reduced its number of EHR platforms from 19 to nine over the past two years as it works toward a single Epic instance by the end of fiscal 2030. About 67% of the health system’s facilities were using Epic as of early October.
- Rockville, Md.-based Adventist HealthCare announced plans to implement Epic across its organization in 2028, joining other health systems moving toward a unified EHR platform.
- Newark, Del.-based ChristianaCare completed its transition from Oracle Health to Epic in October. The move brings the health system onto a unified platform for clinical records and patient access through MyChart.
- Minneapolis-based Children’s Minnesota launched Epic across its hospitals, clinics and specialty care locations Oct. 3 following an investment of more than $175 million. The transition replaced multiple systems and brought clinical, scheduling, billing and operational workflows onto one platform.
- Sarasota (Fla.) Memorial Health Care System completed its approximately $160 million Epic implementation in October. The systemwide launch included hospitals, physician practices and outpatient locations.
- Vail (Colo.) Health rolled out Epic on Oct. 3 through a Community Connect partnership with Aurora, Colo.-based UCHealth. The implementation brought records from Vail Health’s providers and services into a shared EHR system.
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