I want to do a quick round up of the big EMR systems and some of the promising new ones. I think I may have over done it on the pharma companies when I did that round up, so I’m going to be a little briefer here. I will try to do the 10 most popular EMRs and a couple emerging ones. I’m starting with the Big Daddy, Epic
Epic
Epic is the largest and most dominant player in the electronic medical records space. Founded in 1979 in Wisconsin, it was one of the first efforts to keep medical records electronically, and has grown to become the preferred EMR, especially for hospitals and large health systems.
Epic’s founder Judith Faulkner, is a character and a legend in her own right. Epic is still privately held, never raised VC funding, and Faulkner owns 47% of it. Given that Epic had $3.8 billion in sales in 2021, this has made Faulkner a very rich woman, with over $7.4 B in net worth. She has pledged to eventually give 99% of her wealth to charity. It’s worth watching some interviews (here’s one) and reading more about her.
Given its status as the dominant player in the space, its lack of pressure from external investors and its quirky founder, Epic has maintained a very unique aura. Epic’s sprawling Wisconsin campus has buildings said to evoke Harry Potter castles among other things. Its products (and website) also have a very quirky, retro feel.
Epic has taken heat over the years because of its defensive stance towards interoperability. They initially charged fees for transferring records outside of Epic systems, and customers still pay a one-time fee to link to any non-epic system despite the rules and spirit engendered by the HITECH act. This is understandable given Epic’s incentives to remain the dominant player and maintain network effects, but it is frustrating to other players in the ecosystem who have to work with them.
They also bungled a few rollouts to major government-run health systems in Europe, including the UK and Denmark.
To health tech innovators, Epic can seem like a dinosaur, with its clunky design and resistant stance towards interoperability. For clinicians, who would rather just learn one system, Epic still stands out as the path of least resistance.
Here are some key facts:
Founded in 1979
>280 million people have records on Epic
Epic owns 29% of the EHR market for acute care hospitals
$3.2 Billion in 2019 revenue
All software built in-house (no acquisitions)
32% of operating expenses invested in R&D
Resources:
https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/healthcare-information-technology/31-numbers-that-show-how-big-epic-cerner-allscripts-meditech-are-in-healthcare.html
https://www.forbes.com/profile/judy-faulkner/?sh=52cf46e33b81
https://www.epic.com/about
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_Systems
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerner