After its merger announcement with Aurora Health Care, Advocate Health Care announces that it will replace its current mix of Allscripts, Cerner and eClinicalWorks EHR with Epic EHR Software
Chicago-based Advocate Health Care has announced that it would merge with Milwaukee-based Aurora Health Care to create the 10th-biggest not-for-profit healthcare system in the U.S. It is an $11 billion meeting of healthcare giants that is expected to reveal quite noticeable results. Advocate is known as a longtime healthcare IT leader, having extensive experience in population health management and complex clinical integration.
Aurora operates on an EHR system developed by Epic Systems and it was announced Feb. 1 that Advocate will also be using the same health IT system. Advocate officials amounted that they expected the entire project to take approximately three years to complete. It was revealed that the new EHR along with the revenue cycle management system would require extensive training of more than 17,000 nurses, physicians and associates.
Advocate previously announced plans of merging with NorthShore University in 2014. The latter was another Epic EHR user. Unfortunately, the deal was dropped when antitrust concerns arose in 2017. Advocate was using Cerner EHR for its hospitals, eClinicalWorks for its patient portal, and Allscripts for its Advocate Medical Group.
With the Aurora merger plans in progress, company officials claim that the new single-platform Epic system would allow Advocate to continue to focus on improved patient outcomes and hone its care coordination activities.
Company executives further pointed out that Epic’s ease-of-use for clinicians and consumer capabilities were big reasons for the mentioned switch.
Advocate CEO Jim Skogsbergh said, “Advocate has been laser-focused on our transformational efforts around safety, outcomes and consumer experience, and our decision to move to a single platform is yet another demonstration of our commitment to accelerate results and reimagine health care delivery for those we serve.”
Advocate’s Chief Information Officer Bobbie Byrne said that she saw the company’s switch to Epic as a means of providing better care coordination throughout the health system and even beyond it. She said this would provide better interoperability in their entire geographic region and would benefit patients via seamless and an integrated approach.
