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Epic UGM 2025: Sci-Fi Innovation Meets Healthcare Reality
August 20, 2025
By Jamie Trigg, TriggWorks LLC
Each August, healthcare IT leaders descend on Verona, Wisconsin for Epic’s annual User Group Meeting (UGM). This year’s theme—“Otherworldly Collaboration”—may have felt a bit like an overhyped space opera, but Epic’s real show was in practical, near-term announcements. Let’s unpack the headlines, the implications, and—most importantly—the questions every health system executive must ask.
AI Steps Out of the Lab
Epic has long hinted at AI, including some pretty bold statements made at last year’s conference, but UGM 2025 shifted the conversation from “concept” to “configuration.” The company unveiled several new, integrated AI tools designed to streamline workflows and improve the patient experience.
- Art (For Clinicians): This ambient scribing and drafting tool, powered by Microsoft’s Dragon Ambient AI technology, is in preview with an anticipated early 2026 rollout. Art is a clinician’s “co-pilot,” anticipating what’s needed for a visit and automatically adding documentation and orders for final review. Prerequisites: You will need the correct Epic release that contains the Art feature, licensing for Microsoft’s Dragon technology, and a careful workflow redesign.
- Emmie (For Patients): This patient-facing AI assistant in MyChart guides users through lab results, care to-dos, and visit preparation. The feature, which will also provide a “preventive care to-do list,” has a planned go-live in February 2026. Prerequisites: This feature will require an upgraded MyChart code base, in addition to robust patient communication frameworks and consent flows.
- Cosmos + CoMET: Epic is tapping into its massive Cosmos research database—now with over 300 million patient records—to power a new suite of foundational AI models called CoMET. Developed in collaboration with Yale School of Medicine and Microsoft Research, CoMET was trained on over 151 billion medical events to predict outcomes and identify at-risk patients. Prerequisites: Your organization must be an approved Cosmos participant, sign Epic’s “Rules of the Road” agreement, and apply to the Cosmos AI Lab.
Beyond AI: Foundation First
Epic didn’t only showcase new tech—they also advanced the platform operationally with features that address real-world challenges in data fragmentation and administrative burden.
- MyChart Central: Expected in November 2025, this feature consolidates a patient’s records across different institutions that use Epic. It provides a single login for all their MyChart accounts, simplifying the patient experience. Prerequisites: You will need the correct Epic release that includes MyChart Central. A crucial operational prerequisite will be a well-planned patient communications and identity linking strategy to avoid patient confusion.
- Payer Platform: Already live in many markets with large payers (e.g., Aetna, Humana), this platform automates and streamlines complex workflows for prior authorizations, denials, and clinical summaries. Prerequisites: To activate this, you must sign Epic’s “Rules of the Road” for payer integration and have at least one payer in your market that is already live on the platform.
The Exec Buzz—and the Skeptic’s Lens
Walking through UGM, you could feel real excitement, but also a healthy dose of skepticism.
- What’s energizing leaders: Art and Emmie promise to reclaim significant clinician time; CoMET offers a path to predictive insights at scale; and MyChart Central finally standardizes the consumer’s view.
- What keeps CFOs up at night: Deployment complexity and costs, the need for robust AI governance and safety frameworks, and the risk of vendor lock-in.
Judy’s Long-Term Vision Anchors the Sci-Fi Saga
Amid the litany of new innovations, it’s important to remember Epic’s strategic bedrock, which was on full display at UGM.
- Mission-Driven Design: Judy Faulkner’s structural insulation of Epic through a trust ensures the company’s roadmap is not tied to quarterly earnings or private equity demands. This reinforces a mission-first design over profit-driven pivots.
- No IPO: The company’s commitment to remaining privately held means a longer-term focus on strategic change rather than rapid, market-driven shifts. This long-term perspective signals a consistent direction for its clients.
Four Actionable Moves for Healthcare Executives
- Pilot AI with a Clear ROI: Don’t try to deploy Art or Emmie enterprise-wide on day one. Test it in one department and measure clinician time saved or patient engagement uplift to build a data-driven business case.
- Lock in Cosmos and CoMET Early: Applying to the Cosmos AI Lab is your first step toward unlocking a new universe of predictive modeling capabilities. This is a foundational move.
- Prioritize Payer Platform Adoption: If your major payers are ready to connect, enable this feature now. It’s one of the most effective ways to clear the decks of manual denials and authorization delays.
- Plan the MyChart Central Rollout: Build your communications, train staff, and test identity-linking paths before November 2025. This feature will have an immediate impact on patient experience.
A Critical Note for CIOs: The Pace of Change
Epic’s latest innovations underscore a new reality for health system IT. With features like Art and MyChart Central tied to specific Epic releases, the traditional pace of multi-year upgrade cycles is no longer sufficient. CIOs must accelerate their upgrade plans and prioritize staying as current as possible. These aren’t just incremental updates; they are the gateway to a new generation of efficiency tools and patient experiences.
Final Thoughts
UGM 2025 wasn’t just an intergalactic show—it was Epic’s signal that AI and patient-centric innovation are no longer optional. But for healthcare systems wrestling with tight budgets and clinician burnout, a measured, governance-rich adoption is the path to real transformation.
Epic might be steering the future—and with thoughtful strategy and budgetary planning for your IT department, you can steer alongside them.
