Epic Systems is developing over 100 new AI capabilities for healthcare professionals and patients. Here's a sneak peek.

• Thousands of hospitals and clinics nationwide utilize the technology of Epic Systems, a leading health-care software company.
• This week, thousands of industry leaders are visiting Epic's headquarters in Verona, Wisconsin to discover its latest product offerings and updates.
• Epic's announcements frequently focused on AI, which the company aims to incorporate into its products such as MyChart and Cosmos.

This week, in an auditorium filled with thousands of health-care executives, Epic Systems CEO Judy Faulkner gave a keynote speech while dressed as a swan, complete with feathers.

The health-care industry veterans and Epic employees were not surprised by Faulkner's costume at the annual Users Group Meeting, as it was business as usual. However, the theme that stood out during the event was the potential of new artificial intelligence features to assist doctors and patients.

Epic is a prominent healthcare software company whose technology is utilized in thousands of U.S. hospitals and clinics. The company manages medical records for over 280 million individuals in the U.S., although patients' data is often stored across multiple vendors.

Wizards and animals

Thousands of individuals flock to Epic's headquarters in Verona, Wisconsin annually to learn about its latest products and initiatives. UGM, one of the company's biggest on-campus events, took place on Tuesday, and CNBC was present to cover the occasion.

The 1,670-acre campus of Epic is dotted with farm animals, wizard statues, and buildings modeled after "Alice in Wonderland" and "The Wizard of Oz." This year's conference has a "storytime" theme, and Faulkner and other Epic executives spoke while dressed as characters from popular children's books.

Epic's major products, including MyChart and Cosmos, were updated with a plethora of skits and jingles as they were shared across the company.

Epic's Artificial Intelligence announcements

Epic has over 100 AI features planned, with many of the tools still in the early stages of development, as announced by Faulkner.

Epic announced that its AI technology will assist doctors in simplifying message responses, letters, and instructions for patients to comprehend by the end of this year. Doctors will be able to utilize AI to automatically prioritize prescription and lab orders, the company stated.

Epic is developing AI tools to simplify time-consuming tasks such as drafting insurance denial appeal letters and reviewing prior authorization requirements for many physicians this year.

Epic's AI technology will enable doctors to access patient information and medication details through MyChart by 2025, and it will also include the ability to calculate wound measurements from images.

Epic has unveiled plans for a new staff scheduling application for physicians and nurses called "Teamwork," which is set to launch soon. Moreover, Faulkner stated that Epic is currently investigating how it could facilitate claims submissions directly through its software, eliminating the need for intermediaries such as clearinghouses. If Epic succeeds in this endeavor, it could signify a significant shift in the way insurance claims are processed across the healthcare sector.

Epic demonstrated its vision for the future of healthcare technology during its presentation on Tuesday, although it remains uncertain whether all of these features will be realized and whether health systems will adopt them.

The future

Seth Hain, senior vice president of research and development at Epic, facilitated a demo with an AI agent through the MyChart app. During the demo, Hain spoke about his recovery after a supposed wrist surgery and answered questions about his pain. The agent instructed Hain to open his camera and bend his wrist back so it could evaluate the progress of his healing. The agent said Hain's wrist extension was about 60 to 75 degrees, which meant his recovery was ahead of schedule, compared to data from similar patients in Epic's Cosmos database.

Could Hain start playing pickleball again, the agent advised him to "wait a little longer" before doing so.

During a meeting with reporters following the presentation, Hain stated that the demo was being conducted in real-time without any human intervention. Despite its novelty, Epic has yet to give it a name, and Hain predicts that it may take several years before it becomes more widely accessible.

He stated that it is still early to determine how and where the community and the broader medical community will adopt that approach, but it is feasible.