Dive Brief:
- Epic’s App Orchard marketplace is now open for business, Healthcare IT News reports.
- Third-party developers can offer pitches with FHIR and other open application programming interfaces for use with Epic’s electronic health record systems (EHR), according to the report.
- The Verona, WI-based EHR vendor garnered a U.S. trademark for the app exchange, which is similar to Apple’s App Store, in 2015, the report adds.
Dive Insight:
The move opens the door to more innovative features and capabilities in Epic EHRs and could help tamp down criticism that the company’s systems are too closed.
Allscripts and Cerner are also planning to offer APIs that facilitate interoperability and a more open approach. Allscripts has a large number of developers certified to create apps for its platform, and Cerner is working with third parties to do the same.
Epic is also venturing into the small hospital market with lighter-weight versions of its All Terrain EHR system. Utility will target medium and small size organizations, while Sonnet is aimed at hospitals critical access hospitals, post-acute care facilities and physician practices. Both should be available later this year and be compatible with apps from App Orchard.