Mayo Clinic Embarks On Project To Create Integrated EHR-RCM System

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

Epic selected as strategic partner for the integration project.

Mayo Clinic announced it has selected Epic as a strategic partner in a project to create an integrated electronic health record (EHR) and revenue cycle management (RCM) system. According to the release, the resulting system will replace Mayo’s current three EHRs and will serve as a foundation for Mayo Clinic operations for several decades.

“We’re confident in choosing Epic as our strategic partner as we continue to enhance Mayo Clinic’s excellence in healthcare and medical innovation,” John Noseworthy, M.D., Mayo Clinic president and CEO, said.

A new project team composed of staff from Mayo Clinic, Epic, and external consultants is expected to begin work by April 2015 with construction of the system to take place through 2015 and 2016. Ultimately, the plan is to have the new integrated system operational by 2017.

From the beginning, Mayo’s integrated group practice has helped advance medicine for the benefit of patients and the medical community. “With our staff working together on a common system, we will be able to accelerate innovation, enhance services, and provide a better experience for our patients,” adds Dawn Milliner, M.D., Mayo’s chief medical information officer.

More than 45,000 Mayo staff will be trained to use the new EHR and RCM. All terms and conditions of Mayo’s agreement with Epic are subject to final approval by the Mayo Clinic Board of Governors and Board of Trustees.

Mayo follows other healthcare systems that have adopted Epic to help improve their systems. In 2012, Partners HealthCare selected Epic to be its “information system of the future” after three pioneering decades using its own self-developed HER, and in 2013, Intermountain Healthcare also made the transition to a Cerner system.