AdventHealth dropping Cerner, Athenahealth EHRs for Epic

ADVENTHEALTH, a faith-based health system with 50 hospital campuses, plans to implement an integrated electronic health record and revenue cycle management system from Epic Systems Corp. over the next three years.

Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based AdventHealth said it will install the Epic system at its more than 1,200 acute-care, physician-practice, ambulatory, urgent-care, home health and hospice sites. The system currently uses EHRs from Cerner Corp., Athenahealth and Homecare Homebase, said Jayne Bassler, a senior vice president leading the transition to Epic.

All of those EHRs will be replaced by the Epic system, Bassler told Modern Healthcare.

By implementing a single system across its sites, AdventHealth officials said it will be easier for clinicians and staff to access patient records and coordinate care.

“In order for us to create a more seamless experience for (consumers), as well as an improved workflow for our clinicians, we need to be on a single platform,” Bassler said.

AdventHealth plans to kick off its transition to Epic in March. Bassler said the health system expects all of its sites to be live on the new system by the end of 2022.

Bassler declined to share the value of the Epic contract, but said the overall EHR transition will be “multiple millions of dollars of an investment,” which includes paying for Epic’s software and employee training.

A spokesperson for Cerner—which has provided AdventHealth with EHR software since 2002, when the health system was still known as Adventist Health System—said the company is “committed to working closely with AdventHealth to continue delivering superior healthcare technology solutions throughout the transition.”

Epic and Cerner are the two biggest brands in the EHR market, accounting for 28% and 26% of the market among U.S. acute-care hospitals, respectively. Together, they represent more than half of that entire market, according to a KLAS Research report last year. ●