An Epic Celebration 25 Years in the Making

MetroHealth was the first safety-net healthcare system in the nation to start installing Epic 's electronic health record platform. Since our first go-live in outpatient pediatrics in 1999, the two organizations have continued to collaborate and innovate.

To celebrate 25 years of partnership, MetroHealth and Epic joined together recently for a special reception featuring remarks from officials from both organizations.

"Because of our MetroHealth's innovative spirit, we have become one of Epic's most advanced users," said David Kaelber, MD, PhD, MPH, Vice President, Chief Health Informatics Officer. "We should all be proud of what we continue to accomplish."

MetroHealth investigated installing an electronic record in its ambulatory clinics as early as 1995. At the time, Charolotte Weaver, RN – then the System's Information Services Clinical Systems Director – explored partnering with Epic, a growing startup in Madison, Wisc. Epic had been growing rapidly and, at that point, stopped taking on customers.

Weaver persisted and secured a meeting with Epic representatives on the only day they could meet – the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. MetroHealth's Peter Greco, MD, was one of the attendees at that initial meeting, which included Epic Founder and CEO Judy Faulkner. Epic had been expecting only Weaver, but she brought an entire MetroHealth contingent.

"Judy and her staff were so gracious that I didn't even realize we were uninvited guests," said Dr. Greco, who said he was tapped for the project because he was one of the few physicians using a laptop in the late 1990s.

The rest is history: MetroHealth signed its contract in 1998 and went live with Epic in its ambulatory facilities in 1999. Five years later, MetroHealth installed Epic in the Emergency Department and, in 2009, inpatient units. Today, MetroHealth ranks among the top 1% of health systems in terms of electronic health record implementation and use, having earned HIMSS' Stage 7 validation.

With Epic, MetroHealth has also empowered hundreds of thousands of patients to take control of their health. To date, more than 400,000 MetroHealth patients have signed up for MyChart, MetroHealth's electronic personal health record. With MyChart, patients can communicate with their providers, self-schedule appointments, refill medications, view test results and more.

MetroHealth is also one of only 14 health systems to have been named to Epic's honor roll six times, placing health system among the top 3% of customers of the electronic health record platform. The honor roll program is designed to help organizations achieve continuous improvements in patient outcomes, quality of care, workflow efficiency and financial performance.

"It takes individuals from across our entire enterprise to accomplish this work," said David Fiser, MBA, FABC, Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer (pictured below). "By continuing to embrace digital technologies, we are enhancing the experience for our caregivers, patients and the communities we serve."

Since 1999, among many other efforts, Epic has supported MetroHealth with:

• 2.3 million patients
• 38 million appointments
• 19,000 births
• 100 million patient record exchanges
• 72,000 people enrolled in research