A tour of Epic Systems' legendary and extensive campus, a stark contrast to the bustling streets of Wall Street.

• With approximately $5 billion in annual revenue, Epic Systems, a leading provider of electronic medical records software, ranks among the largest privately held tech companies in the U.S.
• The company, situated in Verona, Wisconsin, has a 1,670-acre campus adorned with sci-fi themed structures.
• During CNBC's annual Users Group Meeting in late August, the company's grounds were visited by thousands of industry executives.

The Land of Oz is not in Kansas, as Dorothy Gale correctly stated. Instead, it is situated in the verdant fields of Verona, Wisconsin, a town of approximately 16,400 residents, situated roughly 10 miles southwest of Madison's capital city.

Epic Systems, a privately held U.S. tech company with a sprawling 1,670-acre headquarters in Verona, has software that is used in hospitals and clinics nationwide to store the medical records of over 280 million people in the U.S.

Epic employees spend their days working in offices that resemble sci-fi or children's book settings while their colleagues are responsible for building tools to support healthcare professionals in caring for patients.

The gleaming, emerald green building has a yellow brick road that winds through its hallways, inspired by "The Wizard of Oz". The entryway to the chocolate factory is marked by giant chocolate chips, and a mischievous cat can be seen grinning through the window of a building guarded by life-sized playing cards.

Thousands of health-care executives gathered at Epic's campus for the company's annual Users Group Meeting to learn about new products and upcoming initiatives. This year's theme was "storytime," and Judy Faulkner, the 81-year-old CEO, presented in a swan costume, complete with a feathered headpiece.

In 1979, Faulkner, a reserved mathematician, founded Epic in a basement. At a recent event, he revealed that the surrounding buildings and their maintenance account for 8% of the company's total expenses. Although he made an obvious point, he emphasized that it is much cheaper for Epic to buy land and build in Verona than in a tech hub like San Francisco, Seattle, or New York. In this small midwestern town, the company is far from big city distractions.

During her keynote, Faulkner stated that many of us in software development are avid sci-fi readers.

For public market investors, Epic has always been somewhat of a fantasy.

The company, with its 14,000-person workforce, doesn't adhere to a set budget, has made no acquisitions, and has never accepted any investment from venture capitalists. Its website states that it follows its own set of Ten Commandments, the first of which is, "do not go public."

In 2023, Cerner, Epic's main competitor in the electronic medical records industry, generated $5.9 billion in revenue, despite being acquired by Oracle for over $28 billion in 2022.

The software and services sector of the S&P 500 trades at a multiple of 9 times revenue, which would translate to a valuation of approximately $45 billion for Epic.

Faulkner is not fond of a Cerner-like result. Epic's second commandment states, "do not be acquired."

Faulkner stated onstage last week, "Why be owned by individuals whose primary concern is the return of equity?"

It's evident that Epic is situated in a different universe from Wall Street while touring its campus.

Epic's 28 office buildings are themed and clustered into mini-campuses with unique names such as Prairie Campus, Farm Campus, Central Park Campus, Wizards Academy Campus, and Storybook Campus. Over time, the buildings have become more ornate, requiring negotiations with architects, as stated on Epic's website.

The conference room chairs in the building match its intricate theme, and the campus' dinosaurs, suits of armor, and functioning carousel are both entertaining and serve a purpose. According to testimonials on Epic's website, Faulkner's plan was to create a friendly environment that would attract and inspire talent and provide employees with the quiet space they need to be productive.

""Big tech competition drives us to hire the best staff, which increases our productivity," Faulkner stated in a testimonial."

Faulkner suggests that every worker should have access to individual offices. Due to the high number of employees reporting to headquarters daily, many workers share offices, as hiring usually exceeds construction.

To avoid the office entirely, employees can utilize one of the company's 600 cow-print bikes to attend meetings in a treehouse, slide down a rabbit hole, or grab lunch in a train car.

A universe underground

The location of Epic at 1979 Milky Way is the first hint of its otherworldly existence, referencing both the date of its founding and Faulkner's love for celestial themes.

As visitors journey down a winding road between buildings and expansive green fields, they are greeted by a sign that reads "Epic Intergalactic Headquarters." The 750-acre campus is home to active farmland, where 42 sheep, 14 cows, and a donkey roam.

The company's underground parking structures maintain an impressive appearance above ground and protect employees from scraping snow and ice off their cars during winter.

The campus' buildings are linked via a network of tunnels and enclosed skyways, allowing people to travel between them without having to step outside.

Employees must attend a monthly staff meeting in an underground auditorium called Deep Space, which lasts for approximately two hours and involves presenting projects and discussing industry trends.

Faulkner addressed the Users Group Meeting in the auditorium, which opened in 2013 and can accommodate approximately 11,400 people. The room is an impressive engineering feat, as it is supported by no pillars.

To reach Deep Space, individuals must travel through the levels of Earth, which are named Sky, Grass, Dirt, Rock, Magma, and Core. The lobby outside the auditorium is influenced by "The Lord of the Rings" series, with the word "precious" written ominously on the wall in large, glowing red letters.

In "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," there is a cafeteria called 42, which is the answer to the question of life, the universe, and everything. The Wizards Academy Campus takes inspiration from "Harry Potter" and features a King's Cross train station, giant chess set, and collection of unruly portraits.

A new campus inspired by epic fantasies like "Game of Thrones" and "Star Wars" is being constructed on the same grounds. Last week, cranes were adorned with large kites that flew high above the campus during an event.

Despite their distinct themes, the physical structures of each office building share a similar skeleton, featuring long hallways of offices with occasional conference rooms and no more than three stories in height, as Faulkner explains.

Epic's oldest offices are located on the Prairie Campus, which features buildings named after celestial bodies such as stars, planets, and galaxies.

The Mystery building on Storybook Campus resembles an old mansion, with Sherlock Holmes wandering the halls easily imaginable. Meanwhile, the Castaway building resembles a ship and is filled with nautical decor.

Every turn in many buildings displays trinkets, ceramics, mosaics, and paintings sourced from local artists, adorning the walls from floor to ceiling.

Strolling through the grounds during the Users Group Conference, it was effortless to overlook that Epic is a software enterprise.

The technology vendor outside of its fantasy campus has real-world needs from medical professionals and patients, but there are also many critics.

For years, interoperability efforts have been criticized for being slow to progress, hindering the efficient exchange of patient information between vendors.

In the U.S., health-care data has traditionally been fragmented and challenging to transfer between clinics, hospitals, and health systems due to the use of diverse data formats across multiple vendors. Additionally, the data is safeguarded by federal regulations such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Epic's CEO Judy Faulkner is the single biggest obstacle to EHR interoperability, according to Oracle Executive Vice President Ken Glueck in a May blog post.

Epic is currently assisting the federal government in establishing a data exchange network called TEFCA, which aims to streamline the legal and technical requirements for sharing patients' data on a large scale. Epic announced last month that it intends to transition all of its customers to TEFCA by the end of next year.

Epic's Users Group Meeting revealed that the company still plans to utilize its extensive proprietary network, while introducing new generative artificial intelligence features for its Cosmos platform, which is a deidentified patient dataset that clinicians can use to support treatment and conduct research.

Seth Hain, Epic's senior vice president of research and development, spoke to reporters after the keynote in a meeting room decorated like a lodge. Hain had just presented a demo to the audience where an AI agent evaluated his recovery after a supposed wrist surgery by cross-referencing data from Cosmos.

In a few years, these types of tools could be available, he stated.

"The technology is progressing very rapidly," Hain said.

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