Dive Brief:

• Epic is broadening its belt of artificial tools, launching a new feature meant to assist outpatient clinicians.
• The tool, called Ergo Visit, compiles patient information from Epic’s electronic health record and other areas to summarize data for clinicians, executives said during the company’s annual meeting in Wisconsin on Tuesday. Louisiana-based health system Ochsner Health is the first to implement the tool, Epic said, though it’s also being piloted by five additional physicians outside the system.
• “Our goal was to redesign the office visit as we would build it if we were starting from scratch, with all of the technology we have available today,” Garrett Adams, senior vice president of research and development at Epic, said in a statement.

Dive Insight:

The outpatient visit tool is the latest in a growing suite of AI capabilities Epic has integrated into its EHR in recent years, which include a clinical notetaker, a revenue cycle automation product and a patient-facing AI assistant.

Epic says that Ergo Visit should help clinicians stay present during conversations with patients, rather than having to constantly look through records. The tool starts working before the visit begins, Epic said. It uses Epic’s existing AI capabilities to identify relevant topics for the clinician, such as the reason for the visit given during scheduling or vaccinations that are due. After the visit, it can then draft notes and identify issues for the clinician to review.

Four clinicians at Ochsner Health started using the tool on Aug. 3, Epic said.

"It's like the way a GPS can direct you around traffic. You know how to get there, but this tool can help you get there the fastest," Dr. Stephen Lambert, a primary care physician at Ochsner, said in a statement.

Overall, 1.4 million clinicians are now assisted by AI within Epic’s EHR every month, according to the company.

Although Epic continues to dominate the EHR sphere, accounting for 42% of the 2024 acute care EHR market, other EHR companies are turning to AI to give them an edge. Last week, Oracle Health announced that its AI-backed patient portal is now generally available in the U.S., and is fully integrated with Oracle’s EHR.

In addition to the launch of Ergo Visit, Epic gave several product updates during its annual meeting, including new details about Agent Factory, an integrated platform for creating custom AI agents, as well as Curiosity, a predictive tool that garners insights on things like hospital readmission rates and patient outcomes.