Epic secures Intermountain Healthcare and UPMC as new EHR clients, with both health systems transitioning from Cerner. Intermountain plans to implement Epic’s EHR across its extensive network by the end of 2025, citing higher provider satisfaction scores. UPMC aims to move 6 million patient records to Epic by mid-2026, streamlining operations and improving the patient experience. These transitions represent a trend toward unified EHR systems in healthcare, emphasizing efficiency and improved care delivery.
Epic made significant strides in expanding its clientele last week, with both Intermountain Healthcare and UPMC announcing their intentions to adopt Epic’s electronic health records (EHR) systems in the coming years.
Intermountain Healthcare, based in Salt Lake City, has committed to migrating to Epic as part of its overarching strategy to implement a single EHR system across its extensive network of 33 hospitals and 385 clinics spanning seven states. This transition is expected to be completed by the end of 2025. According to an Intermountain spokesperson, this strategic decision reflects input from a multitude of healthcare professionals, including physicians, advanced practice providers, nurses, and EHR users. The objective is to prioritize the satisfaction of caregivers and patients while streamlining workflows. Intermountain has chosen Epic primarily due to its robust features and notably higher satisfaction scores among physicians and advanced practice providers. These scores exceed the national average by .49 points on a 5-point scale. The ultimate goal is to enable clinicians and caregivers to deliver optimal care by facilitating coordination across facilities.
Meanwhile, at UPMC, a Pittsburgh-based healthcare system that already employs Epic for its ambulatory providers, the plan is to transition its inpatient EHR to Epic within the next three years. UPMC aims to complete the transfer of approximately 6 million digital patient records from Oracle Cerner to Epic by mid-2026. To meet this ambitious timeline, the healthcare system will mobilize more than 600 IT professionals and enlist the support of around 1,200 clinicians. Additionally, UPMC plans to introduce new features to its Epic-based myUPMC patient portal. This initiative will consolidate all patient records onto a unified platform, providing healthcare providers with quicker access to comprehensive medical records. UPMC anticipates that this move will not only transform its technology landscape but also significantly reduce the volume of daily ADT messages generated across the organization.
Both healthcare systems emphasize that these transitions are about enhancing the patient experience, strengthening patient-doctor relationships, and removing operational barriers. For Intermountain, it’s seen as a means to simplify work, while for UPMC, it represents a transformative, organization-wide endeavor.
Intermountain Healthcare has a history with Cerner, having initially partnered with them in 2013 and extending their relationship in 2020. Despite this, Intermountain has continued to innovate and has achieved significant milestones, such as being the world’s first triple Stage 7 organization and receiving the 2023 HIMSS Davies Award of Excellence.
UPMC has also established itself as an IT leader through various initiatives, including virtual care and medication adherence programs.
In the words of Intermountain leaders, “Our finance team completed a detailed review of our annual EHR operating costs, and moving to a single platform will help us achieve significant cost savings over time.” They acknowledge the substantial planning efforts required to go live with Epic by the fourth quarter of 2025.
UPMC’s Chief Information Officer, Ed McCallister, described the transition as “one of the most transformative activities [they’ve] had here at UPMC” and highlighted its broad-reaching impact on the entire organization. Dr. Rob Bart, UPMC’s Chief Medical Information Officer, characterized it as a “technology-enabled clinical and operational transformation.”
These developments signify a growing trend in healthcare towards adopting unified EHR systems to enhance patient care, streamline operations, and reduce costs.
