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UPMC Moves to Single Epic EHR to Boost Health Data Interoperability

The unified Epic EHR platform is set to enhance health data interoperability across the UPMC enterprise for improved access to patient data.

Hannah Nelson
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Published: 18 Sep 2023

UPMC will transfer six million patient medical records to a single Epic EHR by mid-2026 to drive health data interoperability, according to reporting from The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The healthcare giant has used Oracle Cerner for its inpatient EHR and Epic for outpatient records for many years. A unified Epic platform will provide quick access to patients' complete medical histories.

The data transfer will be seamless for patients, with expanded functions for MyUPMC, a secure patient portal where patients can schedule appointments, review test results, and contact doctors.

UPMC officials did not mention the project's cost but noted it expects the system to pay for itself within seven years.

Ed McCallister, UPMC CIO, said the Epic platform will have far-reaching effects across the organization.

"It's one of the most transformative activities we've had here at UPMC," he said. "It's going to impact everybody. It's the entirety of the organization that's going to move this forward."

Critical Access Hospital Selects Cerner CommunityWorks

Blue Mountain Hospital in Oregon has implemented a Cerner EHR designed for small, rural medical centers.

Maisie Taylor, director of quality and information technology project manager, is overseeing the conversion to the CommunityWorks EHR at the 25-bed critical access hospital.

The cloud-based Cerner EHR will store and manage a full range of records for the hospital and its affiliated physician group, the Strawberry Wilderness Community Clinic.

Cerner is a subsidiary of Oracle Health.

"The main feature that stood out to us is we can have the hospital and the clinic on one (system)," Taylor said. "We actually have two electronic systems now, one on the hospital and one on the clinic side."

In addition to $1.5 million in upfront costs, Blue Mountain Hospital will pay ongoing fees of $40,000-$45,000 monthly. While the cost is more than the hospital was paying for its legacy systems, the ongoing cost includes automatic operating system updates and data platform updates, analytics across the entire enterprise, and full support services.

Rehabilitation Hospital Taps Oracle Health EHR

REHAB Hospital of the Pacific (REHAB), the only comprehensive medical rehabilitation hospital in Hawaii, is adding modules of the Oracle Health EHR across its facilities.

The modules aim to support REHAB's main 82-bed campus, three outpatient clinics, and a hospital-based physicians' clinic in treating patients with physical and cognitive disabilities.

The EHR is set to deliver a more accurate clinical picture by enhancing access to patient care data and outside medical records.

"REHAB Hospital uses innovative models and solutions to support exemplary care and help patients rebuild their lives," Glenn Requierme, CIO at REHAB Hospital, said in a press release. "Our team consistently and continuously helps patients return home and to the community after discharge, faster than the national average."

"Working with Oracle and its EHR will help us continue this success by automating patient records and supporting care coordination so our caregivers can focus on getting patients back to what they love to do," they added.

Supporting regulatory requirements is also critical for rehabilitation facilities as it solidifies their credibility, helps mitigate risks, and avoids audits.

Federally mandated assessments can require hundreds of data points. REHAB plans to use Oracle Health Physical Outpatient Rehabilitation and Physical Inpatient Rehabilitation modules to streamline the process by pulling data captured in the clinical record, summarizing it, and calculating responses.

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