When New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health’s Vivo Health Pharmacy switched to Epic in November, it did more than modernize its technology stack. It redefined the pharmacy’s role in patient care.
“Our main goal was really to unify the patient experience,” Vivo Health CEO, Onisis Stefas, PharmD, told Becker’s. Vivo Health is a specialty pharmacy company operated by Northwell with locations across the health system; it is also the system’s pharmacy benefits manager. “Integrating pharmacy into Epic gives us one enterprise platform that fosters collaboration, easy data sharing and coordinated care.”
The transition unified 11 outpatient pharmacies — spanning retail, specialty, mail, PBM and consulting services — and about 500 employees under the same digital platform as Northwell’s hospitals and clinics. For the first time, pharmacists have access to the same patient records as physicians.
Previously, each pharmacy operated independently with its own systems and workflows. Prescriptions filled at one site were not always visible to another. Epic changed that.
“Now we can function as one network,” Dr. Stefas said. “That provides a certain level of efficiency.”
That connectivity is not just technical, it reshapes daily practice. A centralized phone system now routes calls to a single team with access to a patient’s complete medication history, whether prescriptions originate from a hospital discharge or a chronic treatment plan. Pharmacists can identify changes in real time and communicate directly with providers.
“It’s been a great benefit to our patients, our providers and our pharmacy teams,” he said.
Implementing the system was the culmination of months of planning. Northwell’s pharmacy team used the migration not just to adopt new technology, but to reimagine its operations.
“Like any big change, implementing Epic has challenges,” he said. “We wanted to make sure all of our staff across our pharmacies felt supported and involved.”
Training was central to the rollout. Staff were taught not only the mechanics of Epic, but new expectations for collaboration and communication.
“We didn’t just try to implement difficult workflows,” he said. “We reimagined our own processes.”
For patients, the benefits are immediate. Providers can now monitor prescription fills, pharmacists can track adherence and send messages to clinicians, and patients encounter fewer repetitive questions at the counter.
The result is a more connected view of care — one that places pharmacy at the core of the system rather than at the margins, Dr. Stefas said.
“Epic has a lot of benefits,” he said. “But you have to look at your entire pharmacy enterprise and make sure your processes evolve with it.”
With the transition complete, the focus is now on optimization: fine-tuning workflows and expanding clinical services.
“Our goal is to keep improving access points and integration with providers,” Dr. Stefas said. “This isn’t just about technology. It’s about supporting patients across their entire journey.”
