Epic Systems, a leading electronic health record (EHR) provider, has embraced cloud-based technology by partnering with Google Cloud. This collaboration enables healthcare organizations to run their Epic workloads on Google Cloud, enhancing operational efficiency, scalability, and data security.
This article explores Epic EHR migration and how cloud-based solutions in Epic can help customers improve process efficiency, streamline workflows, and maximize their technology investment.
Is Epic Cloud Based?
Epic is a cloud-based electronic health record (EHR) system that uses the Google Cloud framework designed to manage patient care practices for better health outcomes, improve workflows throughout healthcare organizations, and optimize patient flow across teams, departments, and business units.
Benefits of Migrating Epic EHR to Google Cloud:
- Reduced Capital Expenditures: Migrating to the cloud eliminates the need for extensive on-premises infrastructure investments. Healthcare organizations can leverage Google’s pay-as-you-go model, paying only for the resources they use. This shift can lead to significant cost savings.
- Enhanced Disaster Recovery: Google Cloud’s robust infrastructure offers efficient disaster recovery solutions, minimizing downtime and protecting against data loss. This ensures continuous access to critical EHR data, even during unforeseen events.
- Improved Security and Compliance: Google Cloud provides advanced security measures and complies with healthcare regulations, safeguarding sensitive patient data. This partnership helps healthcare organizations meet stringent security standards.
- Optimized Performance and Scalability: Hosting Epic EHR on Google Cloud enhances system performance and scalability, accommodating the growing demands of healthcare operations. This flexibility allows organizations to adapt to evolving needs without significant infrastructure overhauls.
By migrating Epic EHR to Google Cloud, healthcare organizations can modernize their IT infrastructure, reduce costs, and focus more on delivering quality patient care. This strategic move aligns with the industry’s shift toward cloud solutions, offering a more agile and secure environment for EHR management.
Why Should You Move Epic to the Cloud?
Here are a few key components and critical capabilities of Epic Cloud solutions that make moving your operations to the cloud seem like a no-brainer compared to the average healthcare organization…
Improved Health System Performance
1) Epic’s streamlined infrastructure can reduce the need for physical hardware and associated maintenance, freeing up IT staff to focus on more strategic tasks.
2) Epic cloud-based technology allows organizations to deploy and scale new applications and tools at a much faster pace, reducing delays and improving time to value.
3) Epic typically includes robust disaster recovery capabilities and helps organizations quickly recover from unexpected events such as natural disasters or cyber-attacks.
Reduced Total Cost of Ownership
1) Because Epic manages the technology infrastructure, Epic cloud migration technology users can eliminate the need to invest in physical hardware and associated maintenance costs.
2) Leveraging Epic cloud solutions can help reduce staffing and operating costs, as the cloud provider is responsible for managing the infrastructure and performing regulatory maintenance checks and upgrades.
3) Epic cloud infrastructure allows organizations to rapidly deploy new resources and applications and reduce the time, costs, and effort required to bring new products and services to market and improve value for Epic users.
Better Data Security
1) Epic cloud technology data encryption capabilities that allow users to encrypt data both in transit and at rest, helping to protect sensitive data from unauthorized access.
2) Epic solutions can provide granular access controls to give organizations control over which users can access which data and applications across organizations.
3) With Epic technology, users can leverage robust infrastructure and automatic backup capabilities to ensure data is available and accessible for all authorized users, even in the event of a hardware failure or other issues.
4) Epic makes it easier for organizations to comply with regulatory requirements for data security by providing tools and features that support compliance with industry-specific standards (i.e., HIPAA, GDPR, etc.)
Scalable Epic Infrastructure
1) Epic systems can dynamically allocate company resources to meet demand, meaning that organizations can easily scale up or down as needed without investing in new hardware or infrastructure.
2) Epic cloud technology typically includes redundant infrastructure and automatic failover capabilities that allow organizations to maintain availability and performance for their customers even during periods of high demand.
3) Epic’s cloud-based technology can help organizations rapidly provision new resources, reduce the time and effort required to add new capacity, and allow organizations to add or remove resources to meet changing demands.
Increased Efficiency
1) Epic cloud technology often includes automation tools that can help streamline processes and reduce manual effort, such as automated backups, updates, and security monitoring.
2) Epic’s cloud EHR can improve collaboration by providing a centralized platform where employees can access shared resources, collaborate on projects, and communicate more efficiently across teams and business units.
3) Cloud technology in Epic can provide access to real-time analytics and reporting, enabling organizations to quickly identify trends and opportunities for improvement.
Main Advantages of Epic Cloud Technology
- Automate patient monitoring, practice management, and patient scheduling
- Streamline workflows for physicians across departments in your healthcare organization
- Monitor, manage, and store all patient records in one cloud-based solution
- Connect patients with their healthcare providers through E-visits, patient questionnaires, direct messages, and more
- Implement remote patient monitoring capabilities (i.e., discharge planning, ICU monitoring, etc.) for better health outcomes
- Use predictive analytics and improved visibility to support clinical decisions
How Can We Help?
Whether you need help making the switch to a cloud-based Epic EHR solution, additional support leveraging healthcare data engine accelerators to tailor your Epic applications infrastructure to meet your deployment and configuration needs, or just an extra hand conducting Epic training sessions for staff members across your healthcare institutions, Surety Systems is here to help.
Our team of senior-level Epic consultants has the skills and experience needed to lead your health systems to success and help you make the most of your technology investment in the long run.
Getting Started with Us
Interested in learning more about our Epic consulting services? Ready to take the next step in your Epic EHR journey? Contact us today to get started with one of our expert Epic consultants.
