What people complain about in Epic
19 reported problems name Epic as what the person is currently using. Below is what they said was missing, and what they resorted to instead.
- Complaints
- 19
- Avg severity
- 3.6/5
- Would pay to fix
- 0
- Industries
- 3
What they wish it did
Capabilities people described needing that Epic does not give them, taken from the highest-scoring problems first. These are individual accounts written in each person’s own terms, so two entries may describe the same underlying gap in different words.
- Integrated secure messaging system within the EHR to eliminate personal phone use
- Automated equipment inventory tracking to alert supply shortages and prevent personal purchases
- Tube feeding management module that schedules and logs flushes automatically
- Mobile backup system for narcotics documentation during EHR outages
- Automatic reconciliation tool between manual documentation and primary systems
- Real-time compliance monitoring during equipment failures
- Mobile app that provides unit-specific IV management reminders and protocols
- Automated provider paging decision tree based on time and patient condition
- Real-time charting dashboard that flags missed or incomplete documentation
- Digital patient transfer management system with equipment tracking
- Medical equipment integration with EHR systems
- Standardized inter-facility communication platform for patient handoffs
- Real-time voice-to-Epic charting that eliminates manual data entry and recall efforts
- automated order conflict resolution that highlights latest valid order
- task prioritization algorithm that surfaces urgent orders based on clinical context
- notification system that alerts nurse to new or changed orders in real-time
- Patient identification system using facial recognition or wearable NFC tags
- Rapid onboarding dashboard for new nurses to learn resident routines and care plans
- Software that eliminates repetitive data entry by auto-populating fields based on visit patterns and patient history
- A clinical decision support tool that displays unit-specific order interpretation guidelines within the EMR
- A digital repository of unit policies and unwritten rules searchable by keyword or task
- An onboarding platform that tracks exposure to unit-specific scenarios and validates competency
- A smart order review tool that highlights and summarizes key actions for nurses
- Compliant voice-to-text dictation app that integrates with EHR flowsheets and automatically strips patient identifiers
- EHR-integrated medication calculator with visual timeline display
What they do instead
The manual processes people built around the gap. A long workaround list is the strongest evidence a problem is real: someone is already paying for it in time. Where several people described the same workaround, it is marked.
- nurses use personal phones to reach consulting physicians
- nurses bought their own temporal thermometer because unit doesn't have one
- manual flushing of tube feeding every 3-4 hours due to no flush bags
- manually overriding narcotics documentation during system downtime
- using downtime sheets (when available) for manual documentation
- bypassing key safety checks for efficiency
- Relies on preceptors for verbal guidance on IV hydration timing and provider paging protocols
- Uses mental notes and paper to track which fluids need restarting after IV team visits
- Repeatedly asks different preceptors for same information on provider contact rules
- getting paper packets from EMS during transfers
- manually tracking which equipment belongs to which facility
- relying on memory/verbal communication about equipment needs
- uses Willow Voice AI dictation app to whisper time-stamped notes throughout shift
- manually reconstructs 12-hour shift from memory to chart at end of shift
- manually sifts through tens of orders to find relevant ones
- defers to intensivist to clarify conflicting orders
- uses nursing communication note to document clarification
- memorizing residents by face and routine
- relying on only 7 buddy shifts before working alone
- Asks preceptors to clarify order type instead of following electronic order as written
The problems themselves
Highest opportunity score first.
Disorganized workflow and poor software (AllScripts) in a new hospital ICU lead to high cognitive load, unsafe practices, and nurse burnout.
5CriticalHealthcareWorkflow ManagementFlowICU – Optimized ICU Workflow PlatformNurses face serious professional and legal risks when forced to manually override narcotics documentation during system downtimes or equipment failures.
5CriticalHealth, Wellness, and BeautyCompliance ManagementNarcSafe Downtime DocumentationNew med-surg nurse with a psych background struggles to manage full patient assignment due to unfamiliarity with surgical tasks, IVs, charting, and provider communication.
4HighHealthcareClinical DocumentationNurseFlow MentorHealthcare facilities struggle with equipment and patient information handoffs during patient transfers, leading to critical treatment delays and safety risks.
4HighHealth, Wellness, and BeautyWorkflow ManagementTransferSync Medical Handoff PlatformOutpatient healthcare workers are struggling with a difficult transition to Epic EHR, experiencing workflow inefficiencies and a steep learning curve.
4HighHealthcareTraining & OnboardingEpicFlow CoachNurses spend more time on charting than on patient care, leading to delayed clock-out and burnout.
4HighHealth, Wellness, and BeautyClinical ManagementChartFlow RNNurses in busy ICU settings miss or overlook critical orders because they are jumbled with duplicates and conflicting instructions across multiple providers, with no clear prioritization or notification.
4HighHealthcareClinical ManagementOrderGuard Clinical PrioritizerNew grad nurse in long-term care struggles to identify residents with dementia who lack wristbands or identifiers, and must learn a new software system with minimal training.
4HighHealth, Wellness, and BeautyPatient Safety ManagementQuickID CareHome care clinicians struggle with inefficient documentation software that requires repetitive data entry, wasting time and causing frustration.
4HighHealthcareClinical DocumentationSmartNote Home HealthA nurse switching hospital units struggles to adapt to different unwritten protocols and equipment, causing confusion and self-doubt about their competence.
3MediumHealthcareTraining & OnboardingUnitWise Clinical Onboarding CompanionA new graduate nurse struggles to efficiently review and track new orders and lab results in Epic, finding orders wordy and disorganized, and has difficulty remembering to follow up on discontinuing old orders.
3MediumHealthcareClinical DocumentationOrderFlow Nurse AssistantA nurse struggles to remember assessment findings when charting later in Epic, and loses paper notes, due to ADHD and manual documentation, and wants a compliant way to dictate notes on a personal phone without violating privacy policies.
3MediumHealthcareClinical DocumentationChartVoice Secure Clinical ScribeAn outpatient cardiology nurse struggles to quickly calculate medication refill amounts due to dyslexia and difficulty with quick math when checking previous prescriptions in Epic.
3MediumHealth, Wellness, and BeautyPractice ManagementRefillCalc ProNew acute care therapist struggles with slow documentation in EPIC due to unfamiliarity with required fields and workflow.
3MediumHealthcareClinical DocumentationEPIC Flow OptimizerEPIC electronic health record is optimized for inpatient charting, making outpatient charting workflows unnecessarily difficult and inefficient for clinicians.
3MediumHealthcareClinical ManagementRenalOutChart ProA nurse struggles with unreliable barcode scanning equipment for narcotics waste documentation, forcing manual workarounds and creating compliance anxiety.
3MediumHealth, Wellness, and BeautyCompliance ManagementNarcSafe ScannerCharge nurse is worried that a remote nursing supervisor, using a new Epic EHR system, will make unsafe or unfair patient bed placements because they lack real-time unit-level awareness.
3MediumHealthcarePatient Placement & Care CoordinationUnitAware Bed Placement AssistantA new teacher at a learning center feels isolated and lacks awareness of effective teaching apps and tools due to minimal collaboration with colleagues.
3MediumEducationClassroom ManagementTeachHub CollaborativeCharge nurses at a busy Level 1 trauma center are forced to use an AI-driven scheduling tool (iQueue) that they distrust due to lack of transparency about patient data security and perceived threat to professional autonomy.
4HighHealthcareScheduling & BookingSurgiFlow Optimizer
Read this fairly
These are complaints, and only complaints — nobody posts to say their software worked. A high count mostly reflects how many people use Epic at all, so this page is not a quality judgement and should not be read as one. What it is good for is the shape of the gaps: the specific jobs people could not get done, which are the same whether the tool is popular or not.
Folded from: EPIC, Epic