H.I.S.-toryby Vince Ciotti

Episode #95: Epic, Part 1© 2013 by H.I.S. Professionals, LLC, all rights reserved.

4th of Today’s Leading HIS Vendors• This week we continue the HIS-tory of today’s

vendors with Epic, whose 2012 annual revenue of $1.5B places them in 4th place among HIS vendors:1. $3.2B = McKesson, née HBOC = Walt Huff, Bruce Barrington, & David

Owens 2. $2.6B = Cerner, still run by Neal Patterson, co-founded with Cliff Illig3. $1.8B (est) = Siemens, née SMS: Jim Macaleer, Harvey Wilson & Clyde Hyde4. $1.5B = Epic. Gee, I have to wonder, just who was it who founded them? 5. $1.4B = Allscripts, née Eclipsys, also founded by Harvey Wilson of SMS.6. $850M (est) - GE Healthcare, née IDX/PHAMIS: created by Malcolm Gleser7. $597M = Meditech, still run after all these years by Antonino Papallardo8. $375M = NextGen: née Quality Systems Inc. founded by Sheldon Razin9. $183M = CPSI, founded by M. Kenny Muscat & Denny P. Wilkins (who??)10. $156M = HMS (Healthcare Management Systems), Tom Givens & John Doss 11. $150M = Keane, parent giant by John Keane, but HIS div. built by Ray Paris 12. $106M = QuadraMed, née Compucare, founded by Sheldon Dorenfest13. $75M (est) = Healthland, formerly Dairyland, founded by Steve Klick

The Human Side of HIT• My tongue-in-cheek wisecrack on the preceding list about “…just

who was it who founded them?” sets up this intro to Epic. It is easy to Google tons of data on HIS vendors and, indeed, I could never have written half of this HIS-tory without Bing, Wikipedia, etc.

• But thanks to the popularity of HIS-talk, I’ve been able to get in touch with the founders of many pioneering HIS firms such as: – John Sacco of JS-Data (who I even dined with in Nice, France!),

Dave Lasky & Mitch Pomerance of Dynamic Control Corp., Ray Paris of Keane, Steve Klick of Dairyland, Kenny & Denny of CPSI, Doss & Givens of HMS, Ron Apprahamian of Compucare, etc.

• Indeed, it is their human side of these HIS-tories that I hope has made this series far more interested than just market share stats.

View From The Top• However, few of today’s vendor CEOs have the time or interest in

telling the story of their firm, usually relegating my requests to their marketing departments who generally requested the right to edit my work, which I always refused (not even Mr. HIS-talk has never asked for that right – he lets me tell my tales uncensored!).

• Worse, the higher up in the list of today’s vendors, the harder it has been to get any answer from the top execs, who generally have a cadre of assistants in admin to screen all such requests.

• So when I got to Epic this week, I paled at the possibility of ever getting through to Judy Faulkner, not only because we have never met, but because of the many critical rants I have posted on this and other blog sites about her “cult” of followers, the lemming-

like rush of large IDNs to EpicCare, high costs, etc.

And, to be honest, I’ve got a pretty nasty side myself!

Electronic Supplication• So, I decided to give it the old college try, and shot the email

below out to Judy, just like the number of un-answered requests that I sent to other top executives of today’s leading HIS firms:– From: Vince Ciotti [vciotti@hispros.com] Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2013

4:13 PMTo: Judy FaulknerSubject: Epic HIS-tory Judy,

I hope you recognize my name: I've been writing the "HIS-tory" of our industry for Mr. HIS-talk over the past year on his wonderful blog site. Hope you've seen and enjoyed them? This year, I'm covering the history of today's leading vendors, of which Epic is way up near the top. I would like to chat with you about how you formed Epic and its amazing success story. By luck, I'm on my way to Wisconsin to visit a client hospital today, and could come by Verona in person if by any miracle you have any spare time this Friday 5/17? If not, I'd be glad to chat by phone any time you're free over the next few weeks...

Regards, Vince

What?!• To my utter amazement, I received the following reply that night:

– From: Judy Faulkner– Date: May 15, 2013 9:41:36 PM EDT– To: Vince Ciotti vciotti@hispros.com

Vince,I’d be delighted to see you. Would sometime between 2 and 4pm this

Friday work for you? How long do you think we need?Judy

• I was so surprised, I shared this news with a circle of friends who are CIOs at large facilities that were forced to undergo the agony of one of our “IT Assessments” with the Hunter Group, Navigant, Insights, etc., and became my friends in spite of our tough critiques of their IT shops. Amazingly, every one had gone over to Epic over the past few years so I figured they knew Judy well…

What I Expected…• And these aren’t just “any old” CIOs: they are the very best I have

met in over 25 years of HIT consulting so I respect their opinions; here’s the email I sent them describing my interview with Judy:

From: Vince CiottiSent: Friday, May 17, 2013 8:11 PMTo: W Laker, S Reel, E Marx, B Reese, L Witherspoon, C Belmont

You folks all know Judy so much better than I, and probably wonder at why I've been such an adamant critic of Epic over the years... I guess my years with The Hunter Group jaded me on any expensive system. Well, as the exchange below shows, she was gracious enough to host me for 2 hours today in Verona to discuss the history of Epic, and I went in expecting the usual sales & marketing treatment:

• an executive secretary ushering me into a luxurious private office• a host of VPs scurrying around at the CEO's beck and call• all over-dressed to the 9's in in formal business attire• handing me a stack of marketing brochures & annual reports• followed by the corporate shtick, then a VP giving a ppt pitch

What I Found… Well, as I sat in the lobby a little early working on my laptop, here she

came in person, down the hall, comfortably dressed, welcoming me with a sincere hello and banter about the Wisconsin weather. We met in a small, homey meeting room nearby, where she simply started answering my questions about her background and the history of Epic with little or no sales bs that my sharp radar could detect. Just a charming, straight person, looks you in the eye, tells you exactly what you want to know, and makes you feel important and welcome.

I must confess, I've sat with many vendor CEOs in our biz over my 40+ years, but this has to be the most human one I've ever met. If the proverbial "stranded on a desert island" scenario ever came to pass, she'd be the one! Now I know why you're all her customers…

Watch for the HIS-tory episodes on Epic on HIS-talk that will start in about a month - they'll be epic!

Vince

Their Replies• Here is how each of these elite CIOs reacted to my email:

– From: "Marx, Edward” – Date: May 17, 2013 8:53:35 PM CDT– To: Vince Ciotti <vciotti@hispros.com– Subject: RE: Epic HIS-toryVince

I had the same expectation when I first joined Texas Health (an Epic client) and made the trip to Mecca for an exec visit with my new “bosses.” She amazed me. I learned much in my time with her. And that relationship and growth and respect has grown over the years. She remains humble. Last CHIME she sat in on my session and then afterwards spent 30 minutes just chatting about the talk, industry, etc. And Epic remains in good hands with her #2 Carl. Same thing…an engineer who is humble and smart.

Johns HopkinsFrom: Stephanie ReelDate: May 18, 2013 7:14:54 AM EDTTo: Vince Ciotti Subject: Re: Epic HIS-tory

Your notes are truly touching. And honest! I could not agree more with your assessment. As you probably know, we signed our first contract with Epic, and Judy, in 1990. I was impressed then, and I am more impressed now - with the integrity, commitment, candor, professionalism, and accountability Judy, Carl, and the Epic team embody, In 1990, I was provided with home phone numbers for all 35 employees - just in case we needed something or had an issue that needed special attention. Nothing has changed - other than the number of employees!!! I could go on......

Thanks,Stephanie, Senior Vice President and Vice Provost

Ochsner’s CMIOFrom: "Lynn Witherspoon” Date: May 20, 2013 9:26:05 AM EDTTo: "Vince Ciotti”Subject: Epic HIS-tory

I'm glad you made the connection - clearly Epic isn't the answer to everything but for large systems looking for a quasi-integrated solution I don't think there is any better. I have been impressed with the personal attention I receive - anybody from Judy down is responsive. After the major implementation dust settled my contacts are a sturdy as before. Everything from planning the next major upgrade, the nuts and bolts of meaningful use Stage 2, getting ready for HIMSS Level 7 recognitions, Health Information Exchange and interoperability, questions and concerns about content. This has been a most unusual experience and continues to be. And of course the User Group Meeting in the fall and Spring Council meetings are extraordinary for their content. Hope all is well with you. Best, Lynn

Ochsner’s CIOFrom: "Chris Belmont” Date: May 18, 2013 8:01:31 AM EDTTo: vciotti@hispros.comSubject: Re: Epic HIS-tory

Like you, Vince I have worked for or closely with probably all of the major vendors. Interactions with their executives were exactly as you explained. My three plus years dealing with Epic was the first that I felt true partnership. The overall quality of the relationship, staff and product is what I have always pursued and what our industry needs. Some companies have one or two but epic has all three and more. I have regular calls with Judy and Carl has called on several occasions. As Stephanie said, this culture filters through the entire organization. I hoped that others would catch on but have seen zero indication that they get it. Take care. Glad you like the Kool-Aid. It's no Jim Jones' recipe. It's good stuff.

Franciscan & Sentara CIOsFrom: Laker BillDate: May 20, 2013 8:40:10 AM EDTTo: Vince Ciotti

Whoa, are you sure you they didn’t spike your drink with some of the Kool-Aid? J I do agree that she is a very nice lady with a very honest and direct way of communicating. Refreshing as compared to most other vendor executives.

Bill L

From: BERT REESE

Date: May 18, 2013 9:02:12 AM EDT

To: Vince Ciotti <vciotti@hispros.com

Subject: Re: Epic HIS-tory

......simply said.... it is my honor to call Judy my friend

Stay Tuned…• So, next week I’ll start the story of this

amazing lady and the firm she built from scratch in 1979 with 3 FTEs and a $70K bank loan, leading it to become the 4th largest vendor today with over a billion dollars in annual revenue and 6,500 employees worldwide.

• Truly an epic tale…