hospitals and clinics pay to use products listed on App Orchard, Rana says, “we’re still working through those details” and that observers should “stay tuned” for future announcements.
Some critics have charged that Epic’s software is a “closed platform.” However, the company has also had defenders in the press, and has been rated as an industry leader in interoperability, a term that refers to the ability to share data with other systems.
One healthtech startup based near Epic, in Madison, WI, is Healthfinch, which develops software tools to automate routine tasks performed by clinicians who care for patients. Chris Tyne, the company’s vice president of product, says that Healthfinch has successfully integrated its software with Epic’s at a handful of health organizations. Nevertheless, Tyne says he and others at the startup are “really excited” that Epic has launched App Orchard.
“Having a more formal framework to help integrate apps is definitely helpful,” says Tyne, who is also attending HIMSS this week. “It helps gain credibility across the industry, as some of those newer companies come through the works.”
