As Baptist Health Care prepares to transition to Epic, the Pensacola, Fla.-based health system is viewing the move as more than an EHR replacement. Instead, Vice President and CIO Kory Hudson told Becker’s the platform will be a key part of the organization’s next phase of growth.
Baptist Health Care is a nonprofit health system that includes three hospitals.
Mr. Hudson said Baptist Health Care has spent the last several years navigating significant organizational change, including opening a new campus three years ago and a new hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. With that transition behind it, the health system is now focused on expanding its footprint and investing in technology to support its long-term strategy.
As Baptist enters its next phase of growth, Mr. Hudson said the health system believes Epic is the platform best positioned to support that expansion.
“We believe implementing Epic will create greater patient loyalty, improve both the patient and clinician experience, and make us stronger clinically and financially,” he said. “Overall, it’s the right decision for where we are today.”
Beyond supporting growth, Baptist expects the implementation to simplify its technology environment by replacing numerous third-party applications with a single integrated platform.
“Epic is a homegrown platform built as a single, integrated solution,” Mr. Hudson said. “We’re looking forward to eliminating many of the bolt-on applications we’ve had to deploy over the years and replacing them with one seamless system. We believe that will make our clinicians more efficient and could also improve our financial performance, particularly in the revenue cycle.”
Mr. Hudson also said Baptist is looking forward to adopting Epic’s native artificial intelligence capabilities.
“We’re really looking forward to deploying features that are cutting edge,” he said.
Baptist is planning a “big bang” Epic implementation rather than a phased rollout, with an enterprisewide go-live targeted for early 2028. Mr. Hudson said staffing for the project is already underway, with implementation team members expected to join the organization over the next quarter and begin Epic training by the end of the year.
Baptist has not disclosed the cost of the implementation, though Mr. Hudson said the investment aligns with the organization’s long-term growth strategy.
“Given our growth strategy, we believe Epic will be a key differentiator and help create a competitive advantage as we continue expanding our presence in the Pensacola market,” he said.
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