Epic is reportedly launching its own app store, opening the door for the development of mobile apps that synch with the company’s EHR platform.
The news leaked out of a Wisconsin Innovation Network luncheon this week and was first reported by theWisconsin State Journal. Mark Bakken, co-founder and former chief executive of Nordic Consulting, reportedly said Epic – one of the nation’s largest EMR vendors and the top provider of EMR platforms to the nation’s largest health networks – would launch an app store in a few weeks that would “open the floodgates” for the development and marketing of apps specifically designed for Epic products.
“We think Epic is big now? This will cement their long-term legacy. It’s exactly the right thing to do,” the story quoted Bakken as saying. “Let’s say you want to create an app for the iPhone. Apple has automated that online. As long as you play by all the rules, they’ll publish it. … (Epic will be) publishing a road map about how to work with Epic.”
Epic spokesman Shawn Kissau reportedly confirmed the news – saying it would be called the App Exchange – but offered no further details.
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The news pushes Epic to the front of the long-simmering debate over whether EMR providers are doing enough to make their platforms mobile. Critics have noted that simply creating a version of an EMR that shows up on smartphones and tablets won’t work well, and that vendors have to design apps that work specifically with mobile form factors.
Epic recently made news with the announcement that the Mayo Clinic will be adopting the Wisconsin-based company’s EHR and revenue cycle technology. Epic, the Mayo Clinic and Apple have also been collaboratingon applications for Apple’s HealthKit platform, and the New Orleans-based Ochsner Health System last year unveiled its own app that integrates HealthKit with its Epic EMR.
Date: February 18, 2015