Epic, AI startup Abridge partner in third-party developer program

The Partners and Pals programs are new versions of the EHR vendor’s App Market, which was shut down for renovations late last year.

AI-enabled documentation startup Abridge will integrate with Epic as part of the EHR vendor’s latest programs for third-party developers, the company announced. The Partners and Pals programs are new versions of Epic’s App Market, according to an Epic spokesperson. The market was temporarily shut down late last year to undergo renovations. The EHR vendor said there are currently two participants in the Pals program and two in the Partners program, and Epic is currently in the process of evaluating more candidates. 

Epic began retooling how its users would interact with third-party apps last year. In December, it announced it would shut down and revamp its App Market, with plans to relaunch in 2023. The EHR vendor also revealed Connection Hub, a site that allows developers that connect to Epic to self-report that they’ve achieved data exchange.

“The Partners and Pals programs are just two of the many ways that third-party developers can connect with Epic. Connection Hub will remain as a listing gallery for any product that self-attests to having a live connection with an Epic system,” a spokesperson wrote in an email to Healthcare Dive.

Abridge, a startup that offers an AI-backed documentation tool that can record conversations with patients and generate notes, said it was the first Pal in the new programs. The partnership allows Abridge to be integrated into Epic’s clinical workflows, which the company argues will save providers time.

Epic has integrated with other AI-enabled clinical documentation products. Microsoft-owned Nuance said it would work with Epic on DAX Express its tool that transcribes and auto-populates doctor-patient conversations into the medical record.  The product will be available in private preview this summer through the fall, according to a June announcement. 

In April, the Epic expanded its partnership with Microsoft to integrate the Azure OpenAl Service, focusing on generative AI tools like automatically drafting responses to patients’ messages.  Suki, another documentation startup, said it would work with the EHR though the vendor’s ambient application programming interface in May. 

Published on : 18th August, 2023