EpicCare Ambulatory 2020—Community Connect
02 April 20
| Aaron Gleave and Alex McIntosh
Because of Epic’s presence in the healthcare market and their record of strong performance, many standalone (i.e., not associated with a hospital) midsize to large ambulatory organizations have chosen or are seriously considering Epic’s platform. These organizations have two options: contract directly with Epic for an independent instance of the solution, or contract with a local hospital/IDN under the Community Connect model. This research—KLAS’ first look at the differences between these approaches on the ambulatory side—includes two main findings from standalone ambulatory organizations: (1) With direct contracting, Epic delivers a highly satisfactory experience for midsize to large ambulatory organizations. (2) Those on Community Connect, who rely on their host organization for support, tend to be considerably less satisfied and fault Epic for allowing host organizations to deliver an experience below Epic’s usual standard.