Epic’s Broad Pharmacy Development Increases But Gaps Remain

Recently, Epic has prioritized broad pharmacy development. A recent KLAS report, Epic Pharmacy, looked to validate if this is the right move for Epic’s customers and where gaps may exist.  

The report explored the two areas where Epic has focused much of its pharmacy development efforts: medication inventory management (MIM) and IV workflow management.

Epic Willow is the software for pharmacy dispensing and MIM. Although it tracks in-Scope medications well, gaps in reporting remain, the market research firm found. 

Organizations that recently implemented Willow Inventory have more “out-of-the-box” options than other organizations that early adopt, which is the result of partnerships between Epic and early pharmacy customers.

But due to different customer needs, some will find this functionality beneficial, while others will need to put in additional work and customization to see success. 

Specifically, over half (57 percent) of drug wholesalers said that their medication inventory capabilities came from a joint build between their organization and Epic, while for perpetual inventory tracking, just 14 percent said the same.

Customers also stressed that while Epic’s technology resources can help organizations establish interfaces between Willow’s Inventory and other solutions, completeness of data from solutions outside the Epic ecosystem varies. 

“Data such as order returns, controlled substance inventories, and sizing conversions may not carry over from carousels and cabinets, making it difficult to set accurate par levels,” the report stated. “These issues also disrupt the ordering process, which itself is an area for improvement, customers would like more seamless functionality for things such as purchase tracking, 340B ordering, and pricing data.”

The variation of data requires IT investment from customers, who reported that they want both Epic and the hardware vendors to partner better with additional pharmaceutical wholesalers.

Automated dispensing cabinets, a central pharmacy solution, and a drug wholesaler system all saw more partial interface than seamless interface between Willow Inventory and other pharmacy technology, at 43 percent, 66 percent, and 71 percent, respectively. 

In contrast, outpatient pharmacy solution and IV workflow management both reported a 67 percent seamless interface. 

IV Dispense Prep meets the core needs of customers but lacks more advanced capabilities. 

For example, Enterprise Epic customers do not pay extra for the software, reported an above-average satisfaction with outcomes, and said the system met the needs for barcode scanning, remote verification, and photo-capture verification.

Customers also reported that IV Dispense Prep enables them to do compounding, such as hazardous medications, patient-specific doses, and batch doses. 

Major gaps reported include total parenteral nutrition (TPN) medications, preparations needing gravimetric verification, deep expertise in clean-room safety, and lack of hardware.  

And organizations that want to advance patient safety through guided workflows, hard stops for dose-error reduction, recommended substitutions, and custom reporting must wait for Epic to further develop their systems or look into their own resources to construct it themselves. 

Over the years, customer’s requests has led Epic to widely develop its pharmacy capabilities. Currently, Epic offerings with the pharmacy ecosystem include MIM, IV workflow management, and outpatient pharmacy solution. 

Additionally, Epic’s 340B management offering Is in development. 

Despite pressure to take an Epic-first approach to software decisions, many pharmacies at Epic organizations have held on to third-party products due to the under-development of some of Epic’s pharmacy solutions.

For the overall progress report, customers voiced that while Epic does well at helping with implementation at the start, they are forced to rely on themselves once live. For example, customers must turn to analyst teams to customize workflows and deliver reporting to increase optimization. 

Therefore, pharmacy managers and directors feel they “lack a direct Epic connection, vendor guidance, and expertise,” all which third-party pharmacy vendors generally provide, the report concluded.