Nearly 1,000 experts gathered at Open@Epic to advance healthcare data sharing. During the conference, Epic outlined plans for simplified patient-driven data connections, additional support for app developers, and continued expansion of interoperability. Open@Epic is a developer-focused conference open to anyone with an interest in data connections to help patients, clinicians, and healthcare organizations.
“Open@Epic shows what’s possible when the industry comes together with a shared purpose,” said HT Snowday at Midmark RTLS, a real-time locating system (RTLS) provider. “For us, it feels like the next chapter in a very collaborative relationship. With the Midmark CareFlow RTLS interface, we’ve already improved care team communication, productivity, and patient flow for our shared customers—and we’re even more excited about what’s to come.”
In the past year, over 745 billion data exchanges took place using Epic’s publicly available APIs. With the goal of expanding this, Seth Hain, Epic’s SVP of R&D, highlighted enhanced developer tools, patient-driven features that simplify data sharing, and more public APIs to come in 2025 and beyond.
Easier patient-driven app connections
Hain highlighted that the new MyChart Central will make it easier for patients to connect apps and devices to their complete medical record. With nationwide MyChart Central rollout later this year, patients can have one MyChart account that brings health data from multiple organizations together. Built-in biometrics support allows patients to log in without memorizing their username and password.
Soon, patients will be able to share their healthcare data from multiple organizations at once. With just a few clicks, they can provide a more complete medical picture to trusted apps—and stay more engaged in their health.
In addition, with Epic’s support of the new Bluetooth Generic Health Sensor specification, it’s easier than ever for patients to connect home devices, such as blood pressure cuffs, to MyChart.
More ways for app developers to connect
The Clarity data model is now available for app developers to license—providing additional support for developers who need population-level data to support AI, analytics, and population health applications.
A few of Epic’s upcoming plans include:
- Real-time “blue dot” wayfinding in MyChart to help patients get to where they need to go, to be released November 2025.
- Additional prior authorization APIs to strengthen provider-payer communication, to be released February 2026.
- Staff Duress APIs to support location-aware alerts for nurses to get the assistance they need when their safety is jeopardized, to be released February 2026.
Midmark RTLS is one developer with plans to connect to Epic’s Staff Duress APIs. “Together, we’re building safer, more connected care environments where staff can focus on patients, while knowing help is always within reach,” Snowday said.
Looking farther ahead, Hain noted that Epic is preparing to support USCDI v5, which will improve the standardized exchange of information related to advanced directives, medication adherence, diagnostic images, and more.
Improvements to the app developer experience
Updates to Open.Epic and Epic’s Vendor Services program include:
- A new five-step guide with a roadmap for new developers to follow—from app idea, to connection technology selection, to collaborating with the Epic community to bring it to life.
- Over 40 Developer Playbooks highlighting recommended workflows and technology for common data exchange requests.
- Expanded Sandbox testing capabilities giving app developers a self-service option for creating certain test data and reviewing the results of their API calls in test Epic patient records.
Open.Epic still includes resources that developers have used for years, including specifications for over 800 free APIs and resources for meeting healthcare organizations’ expectations for key topics such as security, privacy, and stability.
Showroom, the marketplace for apps that connect to Epic, is getting a facelift too, with improved search and clearer organization of available apps.
