Introduction: Revolutionary Healthcare Technology Support
Ochsner’s New Orleans-based Ochsner Health has revolutionized healthcare technology adoption by creating an innovative 70-person “sales team for tech” that has become indispensable to clinicians across their extensive network. This groundbreaking approach to Epic Electronic Health Record (EHR) support has transformed how healthcare organizations can successfully implement and maintain complex technology systems while ensuring maximum user adoption and satisfaction.
The Epic Academy, launched in 2012, represents a paradigm shift in healthcare technology support, moving beyond traditional help desk models to create a comprehensive, personalized approach that has yielded remarkable results for the 47-hospital system.
The Genesis of Epic Academy
From Homegrown to Epic: A Strategic Transition
Originally called the Physicians Academy, this initiative began as Ochsner Health transitioned from their homegrown Electronic Health Record system to Epic. The healthcare system recognized early on that successful technology implementation required more than just technical deployment—it demanded comprehensive human support and change management.
“We wanted to be implementing the latest and greatest tech, and we knew we couldn’t do that without a team that was really out there to support our physicians and clinicians,” explains Ochsner Health CIO Amy Trainor, BSN, RN, who became Epic Academy’s first employee when the program started with just three staff members serving two hospitals.
Early Recognition of Implementation Challenges
Healthcare leaders understood that while launching new technology might seem straightforward, the real challenge lies in ensuring continued adoption and support. This insight drove the creation of a specialized team dedicated exclusively to bridging the gap between technology capabilities and clinical practice.
Building the Ultimate Tech Sales Team
Redefining Technology Sales in Healthcare
“This is really our sales team for tech,” Ms. Trainor emphasizes. “And they’re selling something no one wants: They’re selling tech, they’re selling change management, they’re selling how to use the new and improved tools that we have.”
This unique positioning acknowledges a fundamental truth in healthcare technology: even the most advanced systems are worthless without proper adoption and utilization. The Epic Academy team serves as technology evangelists, transforming skeptical clinicians into enthusiastic advocates.
Converting Skeptics to Believers
The Academy’s approach goes far beyond traditional technical support. By positioning team members as internal consultants and change agents, they address the human element of technology adoption—addressing fears, demonstrating value, and building confidence in new systems.
Personalized Support Model
One-on-One Specialist Assignment
Each Ochsner physician receives a dedicated Epic Academy specialist who meets with them once or twice weekly and remains available via phone or email at any time. This personalized approach ensures that every clinician has a trusted technology partner who understands their specific workflow and challenges.
Building Indispensable Relationships
The success of this model is evident in clinician behavior: when Academy members leave the health system, providers actively inquire about replacement timelines. “It’s abnormal that frontline staff are like, ‘I need this person in my life,'” Ms. Trainor notes. “They’re really supportive of the role, and that makes a huge difference for us.”
This level of dependency indicates that the Academy has successfully integrated itself into daily clinical operations, becoming an essential component of workflow efficiency.
Expanding Beyond Epic Implementation
Quarterly Updates and Continuous Learning
Academy specialists prepare top 10 lists of the most important features for each of Epic’s quarterly updates, ensuring clinicians stay current with system enhancements without becoming overwhelmed by unnecessary information.
Embracing Emerging Technologies
The team’s responsibilities have evolved to include support for cutting-edge technologies such as AI scribes. Academy members personally visit clinics to provide hands-on training and follow up with locations where adoption rates fall below 60%, ensuring consistent implementation across the entire system.
Future-Ready Technology Support
Ms. Trainor anticipates that the team will become even more crucial as Ochsner Health expands into ambient AI and “hospital-of-the-future” technologies, positioning the Academy as a cornerstone of ongoing innovation support.
Investment and Return on Investment
Significant Financial Commitment
For a health system of Ochsner’s size, maintaining the Epic Academy represents a “significant expense.” Staffing levels adjust dynamically as the health system builds new facilities, and compensation packages are competitive with equivalent clinical roles.
Measurable Returns
The return on investment manifests through improved change management, enhanced adoption rates, and increased physician satisfaction. A notable example includes Ochsner’s recent “big-bang” go-live with the Epic Beaker lab module, which saved $1 million in support costs by utilizing internal Academy team members rather than external consultants.
Regional Coverage and Accessibility
Geographic Distribution
Academy specialists maintain regional bases spanning from New Orleans to northern Louisiana to Mississippi, enabling on-site support throughout Ochsner’s extensive network. This geographic distribution ensures that distance never becomes a barrier to receiving personalized technology assistance.
Embedded Team Members
Specialists become integrated members of the departments they serve, maintaining regular presence in offices and nurses’ stations. They share QR codes containing their contact information with designated clinicians, creating seamless communication channels.
“[Clinicians] know these people by name,” Ms. Trainor explains. “It doesn’t matter if they’re like, ‘Hey, every two days this printer didn’t work.’ ‘I can’t use my phone from this room.’ Even if they can’t solve it, they will get someone to solve it.”
The Success Formula: Responsiveness
Key Performance Indicator: Response Time
Ms. Trainor identified responsiveness as the critical success factor early in the Academy’s development. Rather than forcing clinicians to navigate traditional ticketing systems, the Academy provides immediate, personal attention to urgent issues while maintaining regular scheduled check-ins for non-urgent matters.
Proactive Problem Resolution
This approach transformed the typical help desk experience from reactive frustration management to proactive problem prevention, significantly improving clinician satisfaction and technology adoption rates.
Training Programs and Courses
Structured Learning Pathways
The Academy offers comprehensive courses including “Epic 201” and “Amplify My Proficiency,” providing structured learning opportunities that accommodate different skill levels and learning preferences.
Data-Driven Support Identification
Specialists analyze usage data to identify “silent strugglers“—physicians who spend excessive time in documentation or struggle with system navigation. This proactive approach helps recover valuable time for patient care while improving user experience.
Diverse Team Backgrounds
Multi-Disciplinary Expertise
Epic Academy members bring diverse professional backgrounds including radiology technology, nursing, education, biology, billing analysis, informatics, and even unexpected fields like camp counseling and meteorology.
Soft Skills Over Technical Background
Ochsner prioritizes empathy, communication skills, and curiosity about technology over purely technical backgrounds, recognizing that successful technology adoption depends more on interpersonal skills than technical expertise.
Industry Recognition and Replication
National Attention and Consultation
Ms. Trainor reports discussing this model more than any other topic during her tenure at Ochsner, as healthcare systems nationwide seek to understand and replicate their success. Notable implementations include Sacramento-based Sutter Health, led by Ochsner alumni.
Competitive Advantage in Recruitment
The Academy serves as a significant recruitment tool, with clinicians specifically citing Ochsner’s technology support investment as a major factor in their employment decisions. “We get an enormous amount of subjective feedback, that working at a place that is investing in making sure their physicians and nurses know how to use the technology is a big sell for them,” Ms. Trainor states.
Future of Healthcare Technology Support
The Epic Academy model represents a fundamental shift in healthcare technology support philosophy, moving from reactive technical assistance to proactive relationship-based technology partnership. As healthcare continues to embrace digital transformation, Ochsner’s approach provides a scalable blueprint for ensuring successful technology adoption while maintaining high levels of clinician satisfaction and engagement.
This investment in human-centered technology support demonstrates that successful digital transformation requires equal attention to both technical capabilities and human factors, creating sustainable competitive advantages through superior user experience and adoption rates.
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