Epic said it designed its new Connectivity Hub as a place for providers to share the ability to exchange data with electronic health records for Epic customers and others.
WHY IT IMPORTANT
Any vendor connected to Epic can list their application and self-report if they have successfully exchanged data with the EHR software. Providers who wish to be listed can participate by providing their information and completing an optional questionnaire.
Website visitors can view information provided by the provider, including an application description and a link to the website.
Epic will also launch a new Vendor Services area, which will provide access to newsletters, detailed instructions, extensive testing sandbox, and technical support.
The company will automatically convert existing vendors in the App Market, which it said in the announcement on its website will relaunch at the end of 2023, to Vendor Services.
“No connections have been affected, and vendors receiving services, APIs, and testing tools in the App Market will continue to do so through Vendor Services,” the company said.
“For those vendors currently listed with a direct connection in the App Market, Epic will provide a simple way for them to transfer their existing information to the Connect Hub.”
TREND TO BIGGER WOMAN
According to the announcement, Epic maintains a portfolio of 450 FHIR APIs across 55 Resources, including the latest version of R4.
The major EHR vendors have long had third-party developer programs with varying degrees of engagement and success. Prior to FHIR 4, developers had to choose which EHR commits to before logging into new vendor clients and incompatible changes.
However, an IT study by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health published earlier this year found a fragmented EHR market with “significant differences” in exchangeability. data based on practice scale.
While 65% of the physicians in the study were able to send, receive, or query information electronically from external sources, only 29% were able to integrate the information into their EHR.
The researchers write: “Public and private initiatives that increase benefits and reduce costs that facilitate interactive exchanges can…incentivize small operations to pursue interactive exchanges while helping it’s easier for small developers to push their support.”
ON PROFILE
“Epic has a long history of exchanging data with apps,” Sumit Rana, Epic’s senior vice president of research and development, said in the statement.
“And Connectivity Hub accelerates vendors’ ability to show Epic customers that their apps can exchange data with Epic.”
Andrea Fox is the senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Email: [email protected]
Healthcare IT News is a publication of HIMSS.
