Progressive Digital Healthcare: Advancing Distant Medical Services in 2025
The world of healthcare has undergone a significant shift since the onset of the pandemic. Telehealth, once a niche offering, is now centerstage, altering the way providers deliver care and how patients expect to receive it. Telehealth usage has stabilized, standing 38 times higher than pre-pandemic levels. One key player in this transformation is Epic Telehealth, an integrated platform designed to support high-quality virtual care across the continuum.
Embracing the Change: Epic Telehealth
Epic Telehealth offers more than just video visits. It's an extensive, EHR-integrated solution that is redefining the future of care, making it more accessible, coordinated, and patient-centered. Let's dive into the workings of Epic Telehealth, its unique offerings, and why it's proving to be an indispensable asset for healthcare organizations.
A Closer Look: What is Epic Telehealth?
Epic Telehealth is a set of tools built into the Epic EHR system that enables virtual care delivery. Supporting a wide variety of use cases, from routine check-ins to chronic care management, Epic Telehealth keeps documentation, communications, and data in one place.
Key Components of Epic Telehealth
- Virtual Appointments: Secure, high-quality, real-time interactions connecting patients with providers through the MyChart portal or mobile app.
- Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM): Integration with medical-grade home devices for monitoring vital signs and symptoms between visits.
- E-Visits and Messaging: Secure, asynchronous messaging for non-urgent issues like minor symptoms or prescription refills.
- Self-Scheduling and Digital Triage: 24/7 booking of virtual or in-person appointments with triage questions to route patients to the appropriate type of care.
- Integrated Communication Platforms: Deeply embedded integration with widely used, secure platforms like Zoom for Healthcare, Microsoft Teams, and Twilio Video.
Why Epic Telehealth Stands Out
Epic Telehealth stands out for several reasons:
- Effortless Adoption: Being a part of the system clinicians already use daily, makes adoption smoother, workflows more streamlined, and care consistent.
- Patient-Friendly: Epic Telehealth caters to patients' needs, meeting them where they are—be it reserving a virtual visit through the MyChart app or supporting those with mobility challenges or transportation woes.
- Improved Access: For patients in rural or underserved areas, Epic Telehealth systems extend the reach of care teams, offering timely, high-quality support to more people.
A Success Story: WellSpan Health
During the COVID-19 crisis, WellSpan turned to Epic Telehealth to ensure patients could still access care safely. Within weeks, they were conducting thousands of virtual visits per week through Epic MyChart integrated with Zoom. Reportedly, patients expressed high levels of satisfaction, and providers were able to maintain continuity of care even under challenging circumstances.
Core Features of Epic Telehealth:
- MyChart Video Consultation: User-friendly video visits within the MyChart app and web portal, offering features like automated appointment reminders, real-time documentation, and secure, HIPAA-compliant video.
- Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM): Real-time monitoring of vital signs, symptoms, and treatment adherence between visits through FDA-approved wearables and smart medical devices.
- Interoperability and Information Sharing: Powerful interoperability capabilities, especially via tools like Care Everywhere and Epic Happy Together, allowing clinicians to access and share patient records across different Epic organizations and other participating systems nationwide.
- Built-In Integration with Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Twilio: Tight integration reducing training time for staff, minimizing technical disruptions, and ensuring a consistent experience for both clinicians and patients.
Benefits of Epic Telehealth:
For Patients
- Greater access to data
- Convenience
- Improved communication
- Empowerment through tools like MyChart
For Providers and Organizations
- Lower no-show rates
- Increased efficiency
- Stronger care coordination
- Scalability through virtual visits
Implementing Epic Telehealth Across Healthcare Systems
Thoughtful planning is key to rolling out Epic telehealth across an organization. Focus on aligning workflows, training providers and staff, supporting patients, and monitoring key metrics to continuously refine your approach.
The Future of Epic Telehealth
AI and Predictive Tools
AI insights enabling providers to prioritize care, identify risks, and suggest treatment options based on EHR data.
Greater Interoperability
Greater adoption of TEFCA, FHIR APIs, and other federal frameworks will help Epic lead in cross-platform data exchange, especially for multisystem collaborations.
Virtual-First Care Models
More organizations will move to "virtual-first" approaches: Epic Telehealth supports this through digital triage, self-scheduling, and integrated follow-up tools.
Personalized Digital Health
From wearable integration to behavioral nudges in MyChart, the future of Epic Telehealth will be more tailored to each patient's unique needs and preferences.
Ready to Revolutionize Healthcare?
Partner with us to integrate telehealth solutions seamlessly into your Epic system. Using industry standards like HL7 and FHIR, our services ensure robust interoperability, enabling real-time data exchange and enhancing care coordination. Our commitment to compliance with HIPAA and GDPR safeguards patient data, cultivates trust, and meets stringent privacy requirements.
Final Thoughts
Epic Telehealth is revolutionizing modern care delivery by embedding virtual care directly into the EHR. Providing smarter, faster, and more coordinated care to patients nationwide goes a long way in improving outcomes, reducing costs, and delivering a better experience for everyone involved. Investing in a thoughtful, integrated telehealth strategy is key to the future of healthcare.
- The rise in telehealth usage, now standing 38 times higher than pre-pandemic levels, is being driven by integrated platforms like Epic Telehealth, which are redefining healthcare delivery and patient engagement.
- Epic Telehealth, beyond video visits, offers a comprehensive digital health solution, making healthcare more coordinated, accessible, and patient-centered.
- In the realm of telemedicine, Epic Telehealth's unique offerings include remote patient monitoring, e-visits, self-scheduling, and deep integration with communication platforms like Zoom for Healthcare, Microsoft Teams, and Twilio Video.
- The Nashville-based healthcare provider, WellSpan Health, leveraged Epic Telehealth during the COVID-19 crisis, enabling thousands of virtual visits per week and improving patient satisfaction and continuity of care.
- The future of Epic Telehealth lies in AI-driven predictive tools, greater interoperability, virtual-first care models, and personalized digital health experiences, aiming to revolutionize healthcare, improve outcomes, and deliver a better experience for all.
