This week begins Epic’s User Conference, UGM. It has expanded to four days, and is being held in Madison Wisconsin, the homeplace of Epic EHR. We thought it timely, since Epic heralds this user’s conference as, “the gateway to mysterious and wonderful worlds of health technology,” to point out that while the stage may be set for innovation, the real-world challenges inside the Epic system often feel like navigating a broken starship. Let’s take a tour of the most recent issues that we’ve seen with this “otherwordly” technology system.
Data Breaches That Echo Across the Galaxy
Integrating Epic EHR with third-party applications can and has exposed patient data and caused vulnerabilities. This has lead to HIPAA violations and security breaches. Epic cut off data requests from Particle Health, citing concerns about potential disclosures of protected health information and privacy risks to patients’ medical data. Because of the complexities in 3rd-party applications and legacy systems, data inaccuracies can occur.
When the Interface Feels Like a Black Hole
It’s easy to lose sight of the patient when you’re battling “note bloat,” alert fatigue, and usability roadblocks. Research shows that excess irrelevant data and clunky interfaces increase cognitive burden and clinical errors . One major critique of Epic is that it is a system that was optimized for billing—not necessarily for clinical notes or even patient safety—and that providers spend more time documenting than delivering care. The National Library of Medicine (NLM), describes “note bloat” as clinical notes that contain unnecessary information, which can obscure critical or time-sensitive information in the patient’s record. Among users of the same EHR across different countries, “U.S. clinical notes were an average of 4 times longer than those of international users, suggesting note bloat is a product of US healthcare practices, and the associated systems being used.”
Workarounds: The Epic Force That Undermines Safety
While workarounds are not limited to Epic EHR systems, workarounds introduce complexities and potential risks, making them a significant area of focus in healthcare IT and patient safety. Epic was originally a billing system, so it is (still) not clinically intuitive. The designed workflows within the EHR may not align with real-world clinical practice, creating bottlenecks or impeding efficiency. When clinicians are faced with roadblocks and hard stops, they often revert back to handwritten notes or verbal hand-offs—short-term fixes that can amplify risk. These “workarounds” have been acknowledged as threats to patient safety and care quality, because they can bypass safety mechanisms designed to prevent errors, such as medication verification checks, increasing the risk of adverse events.
Epic’s Dominance: Innovation or Gatekeeping?
Epic’s significant market share, particularly among large hospital systems, raises concerns about reduced competition, potentially leading to higher prices and lower customer satisfaction. This translates to over half of the multispecialty hospital beds in the U.S, and over 305 million patient records stored in Epic EHR systems. This raises questions about its impact on the global healthcare system, possibly stiffling innovative new technologies, and additional systems with a more intuitive clinical design.
The true magic isn’t another gateway—it’s what lies beyond when we design tech that actually empowers care, protects privacy, and respects the people it serves.
That’s Where MedKaz® Can Help
✅ MedKaz fills Epic’s gaps by giving providers instant access to a patient’s entire medical history, not just what lives in the Epic EHR silo.
✅ MedKaz reduces the amount of time clinicians spend chasing documentation in Epic, and provides more face time with patients.
✅ Unlike centralized EHRs vulnerable to breaches, MedKaz is patient-controlled and encrypted, minimizing exposure risk.
✅ MedKaz works alongside Epic (and any EHR), no integrations required, giving patients and providers real continuity of care without the wait for government mandates or costly upgrades.
One final thought: If you’re at Epic UGM this week, where the spotlight is on the future, consider MedKaz, where the future is already here—plug-and-play, portable, and built for clinicians and patients!
