Epic Systems is Integrating AI Features Into Its Systems. Here’s What You Need To Know

In its recent UGM (User Group Meeting) at its Verona, Wisconsin, Epic Systems announced a series of announcements involving its expanded use of artificial intelligence in its systems. The following are some of the highlights:

1. Many of Epic’s announcements were focused on how the software company is integrating artificial intelligence into its products. Epic Systems CEO Judy Faulkner said that Epic has more than 100 AI features in the works, though many of the tools are still in the early stages of development.
2. Faulkner said that by the end of 2025 its generative AI will help doctors convert message responses, letters and instructions into plain language that patients can easily understand.
3. Doctors will be able to use AI to automatically queue up orders for prescriptions and labs, the company said.
4. In order to help physicians streamline time-consuming tasks such as reviewing prior authorization requirements and drafting insurance denial appeal letters, Epic said it is working to introduce AI tools that can streamline those processes this year.
5. Epic announced that by the end of 2025, its generative AI will be able to pull in the results, medications and other details that a doctor might need when responding to a patient’s message through MyChart. Other specific functions, like using artificial intelligence to calculate wound measurements from images, will also be arriving by 2025.
6. Epic announced plans for a new staff scheduling application for physicians and nurses called “Teamwork” that’s coming soon.
7. Judy Faulkner also explained that Epic is “investigating” how it could facilitate claims submissions directly through its software, without the need for a middleman like a clearinghouse. If Epic is successful, it could mark a major change in the way that insurance claims are processed throughout the health-care industry.

These announced changes are very significant, and it is yet to be seen as to whether they will operate as promised and the extent to which the industry will adopt these changes.

Whether these features will all come to fruition — and whether health systems will actually use them — isn’t yet known. Even so, Epic ended its presentation Tuesday by showcasing a demo about where the company believes its technology can go.

The Future of Epic Systems

In a demo about the future of its systems, Seth Hain, senior vice president of research and development at Epic, was the facilitator. Seth spoke to an artificial intelligence agent through the MyChart app about his recovery after a hypothetical wrist surgery and answered questions about his pain. The AI agent instructed Hain to open his camera and bend his wrist back so it could evaluate the progress of his healing. The agent said Hain’s wrist extension was about 60 to 75 degrees, which meant his recovery was ahead of schedule, compared to data from similar patients in Epic’s Cosmos database.

Hain then asked the agent if he could start playing pickleball again, and it told him that he “should still wait a little longer” before doing so.

In a meeting with reporters after the presentation, Hain said the demo was happening in real-time without human intervention. However, that capability is so new that Epic doesn’t even have a name for it yet, and Hain said it will likely be a few years before it’s more widely available.

″It is very, very, very early in regards to how and where the community, the broader medical community, will adopt that type of thing, but it’s viable,” he said.

At CBS, we will be monitoring Epic’s developments in AI very carefully and advising our clients on how to best manage these changes.