Epic is one of the most influential companies in healthcare, managing the medical records of more than two-thirds of the U.S. population and shaping how clinicians document and deliver care every day. The EHR vendor now covers more than half of the country's acute multispecialty hospital beds and generated $5.7 billion in revenue last year.
in a conversation ForbesAt the Healthcare Summit in New York City on Thursday, Epic billionaire CEO and co-founder Judy Faulkner shared her thoughts on how the company succeeds.
Unlike many big tech companies, Epic built its empire without venture capital, big acquisitions or a public listing – an independence that Faulkner has fiercely protected since the company's founding in 1979.
“The fact that my estate plan covers the voting of my stock, there are voting rules, it says you can never vote to go public or be acquired. We have three CEOs from clients who are called trust protectors and their job is to prosecute anyone who doesn't follow the voting rules,” she said.
Faulkner noted that Epic's independence allows the company to make long-term decisions without pressure from investors or quarterly earnings reports.
She and the rest of Epic's leadership intentionally avoid traditional MBA-driven thinking. For example, Faulkner noted that Epic never really had a budget.
“We say, if you need it, buy it. If you don't need it, don't buy it. And that works,” she declared.
Ultimately, she attributes much of Epic's success to the ambition behind its original vision: to create software that can track someone's past, present and future clinical information. Faulkner noted that as health care services evolve, Epic is adapting to manage data in all settings, not just inpatient or outpatient settings.
She said many competitors are focused on parts of care, while Epic is targeting continuum of the entire patient experience.
Now, Faulkner says Epic's next chapter will depend on how it leverages the massive data sets flowing through its ecosystem, especially as artificial intelligence tools begin to transform clinical decision-making.
Photo: Sergio Mendoza Hochmann, Getty Images
