Proscia: Maximizing Your Epic Investment: Why Deep Epic Beaker Integration Matters for Digital Pathology
From the Proscia blog:
Many health systems and academic medical centers (AMCs) have invested heavily in Epic Beaker as the backbone of their clinical, operational, and financial workflows. When institutions run (or plan to run) Epic as their electronic health record (EHR), it is often the natural choice for their laboratory information system (LIS).
As digital pathology is increasingly adopted, organizations are faced with a critical question: will this technology strengthen our Epic ecosystem—or introduce long-term operational risk and technical debt?
Many digital pathology platforms do not integrate well with Epic Beaker. Shallow integrations introduce workflow fragmentation, manual reconciliation, unpredictable timelines, and mounting maintenance burden. While many health systems are eager to modernize, one reality consistently surfaces: digital pathology rarely reaches clinical scale without deep alignment to Epic.
This blog explores why Epic Beaker integration is now a strategic requirement (not a technical nice-to-have), what “Epic-native” digital pathology truly means in practice, and how leading AMCs are approaching integration to reduce risk, accelerate value, and prepare for AI-driven diagnostics.
- Why Poor LIS Compatibility Can Hold Labs Back
- Why Epic Beaker Integration Matters Now More Than Ever
- Epic Integration as Competitive Advantage
- What Successful Epic Beaker Integration Looks Like
- A 90-Day Roadmap to Epic-Native Digital Pathology
- Building a Digital Lab with Epic
Why Poor LIS Compatibility Can Hold Labs Back
Even on the most modern pathology platform, digitization can completely stall when LIS integration—particularly for Epic Beaker—is clunky and inflexible.
Many labs and health systems have deeply configured Epic to support institution-specific workflows, trained their teams around it, and built their operational reliability on its stability. Digital pathology should amplify this investment—not undermine it.
In the many go-lives I’ve supported, LIS integration is the single biggest determinant of timeline risk. A reliable, well-architected integration model is what separates deployments that succeed quickly from those that stall.
When digital pathology’s integration with Epic Beaker is shallow, predictable problems follow: fragmented workflows, manual reconciliation, extended go-lives, and increased operational risk. In these environments, digital pathology becomes a sidecar tool rather than a clinical system—limiting adoption and delaying value.
Too often, organizations attempt to compensate with extensive Epic customization. While well intentioned, this approach frequently adds months to deployment, increases cost, and creates long-term maintenance obligations that CIOs must own for years to come.
Why Epic Beaker Integration Matters Now More Than Ever
Rising volumes meet shrinking workforce: Pathology departments are seeing sustained increases in case volumes while battling critical staffing shortages—in fact, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) anticipates a 7% decline in pathologist workforce and a 16% increase in demand by 2037. In this environment, manual workarounds introduce unacceptable risk to turnaround times, quality, and staff well-being.
Enterprise digital transformation is accelerating: Health systems investing in Epic are consolidating workflows and standardizing operations. Digital pathology platforms that operate outside Epic undermine this strategy and increase operational friction.
“When looking for a digital pathology platform, Epic Beaker integration was nonnegotiable. It was our first “go/no-go” criterion.” — Senior Physician Leader, Pathology Informatics, Large US Academic Medical Center
AI readiness demands integrated clinical context: AI-assisted diagnostics require more than images—they require structured clinical context, reliable data flows, and closed-loop resulting. Leading institutions now operationalize AI by passing algorithm outputs back through Epic via the digital pathology platform, ensuring results are visible, traceable, and governed within the LIS and EHR. Without deep Epic integration, AI becomes disconnected from the clinical reality it is meant to support.
For AI to work in the real world, the algorithms need the same context our pathologists use. That starts with connecting Beaker and digital pathology at the data level.
Epic Integration as Competitive Advantage
Institutions that achieve deep Epic Beaker integration unlock measurable operational gains: a unified case experience, reduced manual effort and operational risk, predictable deployment timelines, and enterprise scalability across sites and subspecialities.
Epic integration is no longer a technical differentiator; it is a strategic one.
“Every provider says they can do everything. Proscia actually can integrate with Epic Beaker, and their implementation team has been fantastic.” — Senior Physician Leader, Pathology Informatics, Large US Academic Medical Center
What Makes Proscia’s Integration Approach Successful
Proscia’s integration success is rooted in a delivery model built specifically for the complexity of Epic environments—and that has been proven time and time again in real-world implementations with the following:
- A repeatable integration playbook informed by prior Epic Beaker go-lives.
- Epic-savvy interface teams with deep understanding of Beaker’s variability and institution-specific builds.
- Collaborative project governance across IT, pathology, and operations.
- Iterative validation cycles that mirror clinical workflows.
- Post-go-live monitoring and optimization focused on performance, data quality, and scale.
“Integrating Concentriq with Epic Beaker was very easy and straightforward. We now have two types of integration – case level and slide level – and can separate and order our cases based on AI results. I am very big on integration being driven from the EHR, so being able to be in Beaker and have it drive the workflows and pull up cases is great.” — Senior Physician Leader, Pathology Informatics, Large US Academic Medical Center
Successful LIS integration is not just a technical prerequisite; it is the foundation of the modern digital lab. It enables scalability, supports enterprise analytics, and provides the stable infrastructure required for AI adoption.
What Successful Epic Beaker Integration Looks Like
Epic Beaker environments differ widely across institutions due to years of localized configuration and workflow tuning, so integration requires mapping clinical realities to technical architecture in a way that preserves safety, accuracy, and workflow continuity.
What “Epic-Native” Digital Pathology Really Means
“Epic-native” is often used loosely, but the distinction matters. An Epic-native digital pathology platform:
- Integrates with production Epic Beaker objects and workflows in use today
- Supports bidirectional synchronization of orders, cases, and results
- Preserves Epic-governed workflows without requiring custom build by default
- Maintains data integrity across LIS, digital pathology, and AI systems
- Operates reliably at clinical scale with enterprise-grade uptime
This definition shifts integration from a one-time technical exercise to a sustainable operating model.
The Technical Requirements of Successful Integration
Successful digital pathology and Epic Beaker integrations must reliably address:
- Bidirectional HL7/FHIR synchronization for orders, results, and case updates
- Accurate workflow mapping for accessioning, routing, stains, and sign-out
- Consistent case assembly so digital slides, metadata, and LIS records stay aligned
- Operational safeguards such as audit rails, QC triggers, and error handling
- A seamless pathologist experience without duplicate work or system toggling
- Performance and reliability that meet clinical uptime expectations
- Support for multi-LIS environments
A 90-Day Roadmap to Epic-Native Digital Pathology
For CIOs, the goal is not simply integration, but reliable deployment, sustainable operations, and long-term flexibility.
Days 0–30: Vendor Evaluation & Technical Due Diligence
Ask these three essential questions:
- How do you support bidirectional order and result synchronization without custom Epic build?
- Which Beaker objects and workflows do you integrate with natively today?
- How do you validate case integrity across LIS, digital pathology, and AI systems?
What to prioritize:
- Live production deployments at AMCs
- Proven Epic-native workflows
- No reliance on roadmap features for core functionality
Red flags:
- Manual reconciliation steps
- Middleware-heavy architectures
- Promises of “future” Epic support without references
- Custom Epic build as the default integration strategy
Days 31–60: Pilot Design & Validation
- Define success metrics (turnaround time, error reduction, pathologist satisfaction)
- Validate workflows from accessioning through sign-out
- Test AI result ingestion and resulting back into Epic
Days 61–90: Go-Live & Scale Readiness
- Confirm performance under clinical volumes
- Establish audit trails, QC triggers, and monitoring
- Prepare for subspecialty expansion and multi-site collaboration
Building a Digital Lab with Epic
Digital pathology succeeds when it is deeply interoperable with the LIS. Vendors that deliver robust Epic Beaker integration quickly and at scale enable health systems to realize the full impact of their digital investments—today and as AI adoption accelerates.
Proscia is among the vendors delivering this today, helping leading institutions go live efficiently and operate with confidence.
For CIOs and pathology leaders evaluating digital pathology, the conversation should begin with integration. To learn how top AMCs have navigated this journey, contact Proscia.
SOURCE: Proscia
