Epic Systems
Careers at Epic Systems
Mission
The mission of Epic Systems is to develop software to help people stay well and ensure better health of future generations. It aims to deliver exceptional quality healthcare management, professional and support services with a decided devotion to excellence, integrity and innovation, making a long-lasting difference in the lives of patients and our communities.
History
Epic Systems was founded by Judith Faulkner in 1979 in Madison, Wisconsin where she graduated in early 1970s in Computer Science. After her graduation, she taught at the University of Wisconsin and managed the clinical records systems of numerous departments at the university. In order to commercialize the systems, Faulkner, along with a few information managers, programmers and other institutions, put together $70,000 in 1979 to establish Human Services Computing, Inc., the company known as Epic today.
The company name was changed to Epic in mid 1980s and it was around the same time that the company shifted its focus on developing software apps for tracking inventory and medical costs. In 1987, it released Resolute Professional Billing, a new application which soon evolved into the best scheduling application in the industry. And by the end of the first decade since its formation, Epic Systems had attained numerous large clients such as Harvard, Ontario Ministry of Health and a large hospital constructed by the Sultan of Brunei.
The years ahead witnessed explosive growth of Epic. 1n 1992, Epic launched EpicCare, an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) product based on Windows. Being the first of its kind in healthcare industry, EpicCare was widely accepted by healthcare organizations.
Near the end of 20th century, Epic had begun to offer software applications in other areas too such as scheduling, billing and accounts receivable, managed care, and computerized medical records. Also, around the same time, EpicCare had become the nation's biggest EMR system and the company earned more than half of its revenues through EpicCare in year 1997.
In the same year, Epic introduced EpicWeb – the company's first e-health product which provided patients and caregivers information regarding documentation and scheduling. Before the end of 20th century, Epic released more products such as EpicCare Inpatient Clinical System modules in 1999 which allowed healthcare professionals to "integrate their inpatient and ambulatory care facilities".
In 2000, Epic witnessed booming sales and employees increased in number too with the introduction of new products by the company. Hyperspace was introduced in 2001. It saved the users the effort and time exerted in moving from one application to another to perform different tasks and let them streamline workflows. MyChart - an application which let the patients access their medical records and schedules at any instant - was also introduced in the same year.
Epic received high appreciation for its excellent customer services in early 2000s. KLAS Enterprises - an independent healthcare research organization - ranked Epic the top organization in the healthcare IT industry.
The following years brought more awards and recognition for Epic and the company kept expanding. Epic moved its headquarters from Madison to a large campus in the suburb of Verona, Wisconsin in 2005. The continued growth and expansion of Epic can be estimated from the fact that today, its software hold medical records of 54% of patients in the United States and 2.5% of patients worldwide.
Benefits at Epic Systems
Business model of Epic Systems
Customer Segments
Epic Systems has a niche-market business model. The company targets its offerings at organizations belonging to the healthcare industry. Its main customer groups are:
- Hospitals and Clinics - For the information to be transferable among doctors and specialists, and be readily available to patients and doctors alike, presence of an EMR system is necessary.
- Ambulatory Surgical Centers - Such organizations require healthcare management software for surgical scheduling, inventory management, clinical workflow, medical coding, insurance and patient billing, and accounts receivable collections for multi-facility corporate enterprises, joint ventures with hospitals, and freestanding ambulatory surgery centers.
- Healthcare Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) - HMOs require EMR systems to improve the quality of medical care they provide and securely transmit patient data among physicians to help coordinate the care of millions of patients with multiple chronic conditions.
Value Propositions
The chief value proposition Epic Systems offers is its excellent reputation which is also responsible for its large customer base.
Epic Systems was voted top overall software suite in the 2015/2016 Best in KLAS awards. Plus, according to ONCHIT, Epic has the best-selling electronic health records system in both hospital and ambulatory market.
Furthermore, some of the largest and most prestigious American hospitals and health systems use Epic's EHR system, including Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, Texas Health Resources, UCLA Health LA, Massachusetts General Hospital, Mount Sinai Health System and Duke University Health System. Total customers of Epic amount to 297, and 70% of HIMSS Analytics Stage 7 hospitals use the EpicCare inpatient EHR system.
Channels
Epic Systems reaches out to its customers through its websites and its offices; though, it has international offices. It does not have very active social media platforms.
Neither does it spend large amounts of money on marketing. Customers mainly reach out to Epic Systems themselves.
Customer Relationships
The customer relationship of Epic Systems is of a dedicated personal-assistance nature.
An employee from Epic interacts with the customer to provide assistance during or after sales. Most intimate assistance and hands-on help is readily available to the customer.
Key Resources
The key resources of Epic Systems are its EMR/EHR products and solutions, and its human resources which create and develop these products for Epic in the first place.
Key Activities
The key activities of Epic Systems are developing EMR solutions for hospitals and ambulatory clinics.
Epic's applications support functions related to patient care, including scheduling and registration; clinical systems for doctors, nurses, emergency personnel, and other care providers; systems for lab technologists, pharmacists, and radiologists; and billing systems for insurers.
Key Partnerships
Epic is among the very few major vendors who are not members of the CommonWell Health Alliance, a coalition formed to promote interoperability of health data between providers.
However, it did partner with Apple in 2014 on a mobile platform - called Health - that combines data from other health-tracking apps and displays information in a dashboard format. Other than that, it does not have significant partnerships.
Cost Structure
The major costs driver of Epic is the money spent on development of EMR solutions. Unlike other healthcare software application providers, Epic is known for spending little money on sales and marketing efforts.
According to Forbes, the company has about one-quarter the sales staff of competitor Cerner, and customers generally reach out to Epic rather than the other way around. So, marketing has a very little contribution in driving costs.
Revenue Streams
Epic generates its revenue through a combination of upfront fees for the software and ongoing upgrade, maintenance, and service fees. All of these are related to the development of EMR products and solutions.
