FAQ: Integrating Epic with our Patient Assignment Software, Assign

Can you integrate with Epic? This seems to be a popular question we receive when we’re demonstrating our patient assignment software, Assign. And the answer is quite simple: yes.

In the below diagram, you can replace the word “Epic” with almost any EHR vendor as the technical language is almost the same across the Healthcare IT.

HL7 messages, Flat files, APIs are all built within Epic as they are within several other EHR vendors so it’s important to stress even through Epic is the most robust EHR on the market, we have found no limitations in our ability to interface data back and forth.

Patient Assignments & Epic: Why this Integration is Important

Even after you’ve created your morning rounding lists, the work isn’t complete. You still have to:

• Assign patients throughout the day
• Update new provider relationships
• Update and move patients onto specific rounding teams
• Log into multiple places to get an accurate view of your census (ER admits, ICU downgrades, etc.)

In order to reap the full benefits of the software (and avoid manual work once the rounding list is complete), the software needs to communicate with your EHR (aka, the source of truth). This seamless integration ensures that all your data is synced, which we know can often be a clinical and technical challenge in a hospital setting.

With our inbound or outbound interfaces, we can automatically populate your rounding lists AND update the patient/provider relationships directly in your EHR. Whether you use EPIC, Cerner, Meditech (or any other system), we can remove an often-overlooked manual burden so that after you create your rounding lists, the work really is complete – a true labor savings across many departments.

Integrating Medaptus assignment data automatically in your EHR will:

• Save on labor time and eliminate manual data entry
• Streamline nursing rounds and internal communication
• Allow APPs to start their day and appropriately create their own assignment lists as needed

 What This Integration Looks Like

Inbound Epic –> Medaptus – A standard HL7 interface is all you need.

• We can obtain your census from the Epic registration system (eRecord) and display Patient Attending & Admitting relationships
• We can receive Consult information from a relationships, orders or daily files.
• We can ingest TEAM information from unique HL7 segments like ROL values.
  • Teach Teams, Team Blue, Stepdown teams etc.

Outbound Medaptus –> Epic – Let Medaptus update your Care teams with a simple HL7 Message

1. Epic can use our standard Attending update interface which uses an HL7 A08 message
2. *Epic can also consider using our Treatment Team update
   1. Medaptus would send an ROL Treatment Team value update for the patient
   2. This keeps Attending and Team updated and in sync

*This feature may require Epic approval and customization

The Power of your EHR-Patient Assignment Integration

EHRs like Epic are simply not built to handle robust patient assignment processes. With Assign, we can factor in a variety of things that are important to you – such as geography, maintaining continuity of care, or workload balancing. The healthcare professionals who try to do patient assignments in Epic are typically dragging and dropping patients or updating attending and provider teams manually.

That leaves you with no insight into the big picture of patient assignments, like how your lists are balanced, or who is getting new patients. It does not give you the ability to consider geographical assignments and it’s an extra labor burden on your hospitalists.

By integrating Assign with your EHR like Epic, you keep all your systems in sync, benefit from the powerful features of a robust patient assignment software, and you reduce your labor burden.

Hear what our customers like Rochester’s Highland Hospital are saying about our Epic-Assign integration.