Empowering the patient journey: Insights from Epic’s Users Group Meeting
At the end of August a few of us from Press Ganey attended the Epic Users Group Meeting (UGM) in Verona, Wisconsin. It was a remarkable gathering of healthcare professionals, Epic customers, and industry leaders, brought together to discuss the latest advancements in healthcare technology and share insights on how to improve patient care.
My own journey with UGM spans 15+ years. I’ve personally participated in the event from multiple perspectives: first as an Epic team member, later as a client, and then as a vendor. This year, I attended as a partner representative through Epic's newly announced Partners and Pals program. Today, I'd like to share some reflections on my recent UGM experience, as well as Press Ganey’s ongoing collaboration with the company.
Improving patient experience, by emphasizing the end-to-end healthcare journey
Epic's consistent focus on the holistic patient journey never ceases to impress me. It’s a focus that’s expanded during my time working with Epic, but never wavered.
Over the past year, Press Ganey and Epic have been collaborating closely, and it's become evident that we share a vision. We both understand that truly effective patient care involves so much more than medical treatment. It includes emotional, mental, and social well-being, along one continuous patient journey. Importantly, Epic and Press Ganey understand that this philosophy—that is, this philosophy of viewing healthcare through a Human Experience lens—must extend to both patients and providers to be fully realized.
Epic is working with several industry leaders to advance this vision—including Press Ganey. We were thrilled to hear Judy announce Press Ganey as an official Epic partner, engaged in Epic’s program where they work with industry leaders focused on specific areas. Our participation involves deeply integrating experience surveys and insights with Epic.
It was also inspiring—and enlightening—to hear Sumit Rana, SVP at Epic, in conversation with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella as they discussed the exciting work that Microsoft is doing with Epic to use generative AI to empower providers and advance patient care.
As I’ve reflected on the meeting with Epic, and what the insights extracted mean for the work ahead, a few core themes stand out.
3 key learnings, shaping the future of healthcare
- Streamline information flow and access: As data gathering and analysis tools, developed by Press Ganey and other industry leaders, become increasingly sophisticated, it’s just as important to make insight sharing a smooth process—making sure we integrate essential information into the correct workflow across various platforms.
- Technology can drive provider experience: We can improve the Human Experience for both patients and providers by ensuring that our technology solutions, like predictive guidance, intelligent prioritization, and workflow automation, are designed and implemented with the care team in mind. Doing so creates a virtuous cycle that elevates every person along a care journey.
- Collaboration is critical: Every day, our solutions—from continuous listening, to predictive analytics, to generative AI—become more and more sophisticated. It’s critical that we partner with our client organizations, other industry leaders, and the patients we serve to unlock our full potential in improving the Human Experience of healthcare.
This year’s UGM was another electrifying mix of ideas and insights from some of the brightest minds in healthcare. It left me both inspired and motivated to tackle the work that lies ahead. As I think about all the exciting opportunities healthcare has in its bright future, I only have one thing left to say: Let’s go!
To join our mission of transforming the Human Experience of healthcare, and for an inside look at the innovations we’re bringing to the table, reach out to a member of our team. We can’t wait to show you what’s up our sleeves.