Epic to Lobby Congress with Message of Interoperability
So let me see if I have this straight — Epic has hired a lobbying firm to lobby Congress to counter stories they are not interoperable with other systems when in fact they are? And the people you are going to take this message to is Congress? The same Congress is one of the least productive of recent memory? The same Congress that 1 year ago caused the third longest government shutdown in U.S. history? That Congress?
Yes – good idea – this is an organization that knows all about interoperability.
Electronic health-record giant Epic Systems Corp. has hired a lobbying firm for the first time to counter a perception on Capitol Hill that its EHR systems aren’t interoperable with other vendors’ technology.
The Verona, Wis.-based company retained lobbyists Card & Associates in August, according to the federal Lobbying Disclosure Act database. Epic says in the registration that it’s making the move to “educate members of Congress on the interoperability of Epic’s healthcare information technology.”
The move is out of character for Epic, which has a reputation for doing its own thing and staying out of the D.C. fray, sources with knowledge of the lobbying business and health IT said. But the company is now finding itself fighting a perception that its technology is out of step with the drive toward interoperability.
Meanwhile, Epic has teamed with IBM to compete with several other heavyweights for a multibillion-dollar contract to modernize the U.S. Defense Department’s clinical technology systems.
Bradford Card, the CEO of Card & Associates, said in an interview that Epic has been the “subject of misinformation.” His firm, Card said, will work to set the record straight. “There have been stories that they’re not interoperable when in fact they are.”
