Written by Technical Team | Last updated 17.01.2026 | 8 minute read
Technology will never replace the importance of human touch when receiving medical attention, but it can help enhance it. If systems aren’t connected and able to seamlessly exchange information with each other in a healthcare setting, it could have an adverse effect on clinical outcomes and patient safety.
It means that staff will end up wasting precious time chasing medical records that should, for the benefit of themselves and the patient, be available at the click of a button.
That’s why interoperability is now such a huge focus for NHS healthcare providers. It allows vital patient medical data to be shared across different systems and locations to enhance the advance the effective delivery of treatment.
It leads to more informed decision making, less errors, enhanced patient care, reduced unnecessary hospital admissions, and a more efficient use of already stretched resources.
Interoperability also plays a crucial role in continuity of care. As patients move between primary care, secondary care, community services, and specialist providers, their data needs to move with them. Without this continuity, clinicians may be forced to rely on incomplete information, which can result in duplicated tests, delayed diagnoses, or inappropriate treatment plans. In contrast, well-integrated systems enable a holistic view of a patient’s medical history, supporting safer and more personalised care.
One way to achieve this seamless exchange of data, particularly if you have a healthcare application, is through integration with Epic.
Why Epic integration matters: Epic is one of the most widely used EPRs in NHS Trusts in England. And importantly healthcare interoperability isn’t just a technical requirement—it’s a patient safety priority – integrating with Epic allows clinicians to access real-time, accurate patient records across care settings, reducing errors, eliminating duplication, and supporting faster clinical decision-making. For healthcare providers and digital health apps, Epic integration is a proven way to improve efficiency, continuity of care, and overall patient outcomes.
So, what is Epic? And how can integrating your digital health application lead to better outcomes for patients? Allow us to explain…
Epic is an electronic health records (EHR) and electronic medical record (EMR) management application that allows healthcare providers to easily update, store and view patient medical records.
Epic is widely adopted across healthcare systems globally, supporting everything from acute hospital care and mental health services to primary care and specialist clinics. Its ability to centralise patient information makes it a cornerstone of modern digital healthcare infrastructure.
By integrating Epic into a digital health application, organisations are able to monitor patients and their course of treatment more effectively, improve how their staff operate, and manage other aspects of their business more efficiently.
Integration enables applications to access structured clinical data such as diagnoses, medications, allergies, laboratory results, and appointment information. This data can then be presented in meaningful ways, allowing clinicians to make faster, safer, and more confident decisions at the point of care.
But how exactly does it work?
Imagine this scenario: a patient is attending a scheduled health screening at their registered GP practice, but they have just moved to the area. In order to administer the best care possible and make an informed decision about treatment, their doctor needs access to their medical records in a format that their system can read.
Epic’s application programming interface (API) acts as the intermediary between the app and the EHR/EMR system, delivering the information the doctor has requested to their app.
These APIs are designed to be secure, standards-based, and reliable. They ensure that only authorised users and applications can access patient data, and that this data is delivered in a consistent and interpretable format.
In short, Epic simplifies the lives of doctors and patients by making this information readily available.
Epic integration can be delivered in a few different ways depending on what your application needs to do, how “real-time” the data must be, and whether the workflow is clinician-facing or system-to-system.
The table below summarises the most common Epic integration approaches used in healthcare interoperability projects, along with what each option is best suited for and the key considerations teams typically plan for.
| Integration approach | What it’s best for | Key considerations |
|---|---|---|
| HL7 FHIR APIs (REST) | Modern data access for patient records (e.g., medications, allergies, observations, conditions) and building connected digital health apps that need standardised data. | Resource availability can vary by Epic customer configuration; access is typically governed via OAuth2 and strict permissions, so scope and governance should be defined early. |
| SMART on FHIR app launch | Embedding an app directly into Epic workflows so clinicians can open it in-context with the right patient and user already authenticated. | Requires SMART launch and security configuration; ideal for point-of-care tools, but UX and workflow design must align with clinical reality to drive adoption. |
| HL7 v2 interfaces (messaging) | Event-driven updates (e.g., admissions/discharges/transfers, orders, results) that need reliable system-to-system feeds many hospitals already operate at scale. | Often requires mapping and interface-engine work; messaging formats are consistent but can be customised locally, so testing and validation are essential. |
| Clinical documents (CDA / CCD) | Sharing a complete clinical snapshot for transitions of care, referrals, or records exchange where a document view is acceptable. | Documents can be comprehensive but less “granular” for analytics; good for continuity of care, but not always ideal for real-time app experiences. |
As we’ve already discussed, integrating Epic into your digital health application can bring a multitude of benefits to your organisation, your staff and the patients you serve.
Below are three of the major benefits that you’ll notice from integrating with Epic:
When a patient is under your care, time is of the essence; every second counts and can have a profound impact on their treatment. Assessing symptoms and diagnosing illnesses is difficult enough as it is, clinicians shouldn’t have to struggle with accessing information too. The good news is, with Epic, they don’t have to. Whether they are making a house visit in a rural area or standing in front of a patient in A&E, Epic integration gives them real-time access to patient records without delay.
This immediacy also reduces reliance on patient recall, which can often be incomplete or inaccurate—particularly in emergency or high-stress situations. Having accurate data at hand supports safer prescribing, reduces adverse events, and improves overall clinical confidence.
One of the biggest challenges healthcare providers face is how to become more efficient without the standard of care they provide to patients dropping. Yes, it’s important to be efficient so there’s no delay in diagnosis or treatment, and so that as many patients can receive medical attention as possible, but efficiency also leads to better staff outcomes and improved job satisfaction. Epic enables the effective transfer of data and stores data securely, which means staff don’t have to undertake lengthy processes to access it.
Reducing administrative burden is particularly important at a time when healthcare professionals are under increasing pressure. Streamlined workflows free up clinicians to focus on what matters most—patient care—while reducing burnout and operational bottlenecks.
One of the key benefits of integrating with Epic is how scalable the solution is. This means that the solution can be effortlessly scaled up to match your organisation’s growth and cope with increased demand without having to build a new development from scratch. Its robust nature means that it can be integrated with virtually any application, meaning that you can get the most out of the applications you’re already using and continue to expand your reach as an organisation.
This flexibility supports innovation, allowing healthcare providers to adopt new digital tools—such as AI-driven analytics, remote monitoring platforms, and clinical decision support systems—while maintaining a single, trusted source of patient data.
Before you start thinking about integrating with Epic, you need to consider if your application is the best fit or not.
If you have designed a patient-facing app, or need to perform complex analysis, then integrating Epic may not be most beneficial.
However, if you’re looking for a cost-effective and scalable solution that doesn’t require pushing any kind of data to Epic, it’s an ideal solution. A good example of this would be remote patient treatment via telehealth, or assisting with patient management to track and monitor treatment progress.
It’s also important to consider governance, compliance, and data protection requirements. Healthcare data is highly sensitive, and any integration must align with relevant regulations and best practices. Clear data access rules, audit trails, and role-based permissions help ensure that patient information is handled responsibly at all times.
Once you have decided that your application is compatible with this offering, 6B will check the servers where your application is stored and identify whether EHR/EMR is supported by these sites.
If it is, we can begin to develop, integrate and validate your application with Epic. We’ll work in collaboration with your team to ensure all sensitive patient data is encrypted, and all proposed integration solutions undergo rigorous testing, ensuring all endpoints function exactly how they’re supposed to.
Testing is a critical phase of any Epic integration. It helps identify potential issues early, validates data accuracy, and ensures that workflows perform as expected in real-world clinical environments. This rigorous approach minimises risk and supports a smooth transition into live use.
As members of the Epic App Orchard ‘Terrace’ Developer Program, we have the practical experience and technical expertise to design and develop transparent, predictable and fast paths to commercialisation for your Epic integration. It’s a process we’re familiar with, having done the same for countless healthcare organisations across both the public and private sectors.
By combining technical expertise with a deep understanding of healthcare workflows, Epic integration becomes more than just a technical exercise—it becomes a strategic investment in better care delivery, improved operational efficiency, and a more connected healthcare ecosystem.
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