The Importance of Automated Testing in Epic
January 24, 2025
Healthcare IT systems are integral to patient care and organizational efficiency. Epic, one of the most widely used electronic health record (EHR) systems globally, held the largest market share for hospital EHRs in 2023. In that year, Epic expanded its international presence by adding 203 hospitals and 24,117 beds outside the U.S., with significant growth in Canada and Australia.
The performance of EHR systems like Epic directly impacts patient outcomes, clinician workflows, and overall operational success. Given these high stakes, maintaining a reliable, high-performing system is essential.
But how can IT teams ensure systems remain robust, efficient, and capable of meeting the demanding needs of healthcare professionals?
5 Reasons to Implement Automated Testing in Epic
Efficiency and speed: Manual testing often cannot keep pace with system updates. Automated testing allows for faster execution of test cases, early identification of issues, and quicker deployment cycles. This helps reduce system downtime for clinicians.
Accuracy and consistency: Manual testing is prone to human error, leading to inconsistent results. Automated testing provides reliable and repeatable outcomes, ensuring systems perform as expected every time.
Comprehensive coverage: Automated testing can evaluate more scenarios, including less common ones. For example, simulating a radiologist working with high-resolution images during peak usage can uncover potential system issues.
Cost-effectiveness: The upfront investment in automated testing tools reduces the resources and time required for manual testing. IT teams can focus on improvements that benefit patient care and clinician satisfaction.
Support for remote and hybrid work: Automated testing ensures consistent performance for healthcare professionals accessing Epic across different locations and devices. This is particularly important as hybrid and remote work environments become more common.
Addressing EUC Challenges with Login Enterprise
Login Enterprise provides solutions for common healthcare IT challenges. Here is how it supports Epic environments:
Load and scalability testing: Healthcare organizations face fluctuating user demands, from daily operations to surges during emergencies. Login Enterprise simulates large numbers of users accessing Epic simultaneously to identify bottlenecks and help scale systems effectively.
Performance benchmarking: Organizations can establish benchmarks to monitor Epic system performance. For instance, Login Enterprise ensures critical workflows, such as medication orders or lab results, remain consistent after updates.
Real-world simulations: Persona-based workloads replicate the daily tasks of healthcare professionals, like nurses managing patient records or physicians reviewing diagnostic reports. These tests help address issues that traditional testing methods may miss.
Support for Epic Hyperdrive: Login Enterprise provides insights to optimize the process as organizations transition to Epic Hyperdrive. Healthcare IT teams can ensure a smooth rollout and reliable system performance by identifying potential configuration or delivery issues.
Compliance and security: Login Enterprise incorporates practices that align with healthcare regulations, such as HIPAA. This helps protect sensitive patient data during all stages of system testing.
Steps for Implementing Automated Testing
- Evaluate your current testing methods. Identify gaps in existing processes and prioritize automation for scenarios that most impact clinicians and patients.
- Define clear goals and set measurable performance objectives tailored to your organization’s needs.
- Begin gradually with high-impact tests and expand automation efforts over time.
- Monitor system performance with Login Enterprise to track system performance regularly, especially after updates or changes.
- Engage clinicians by involving end-users in testing to ensure the system meets their needs.
The Path to Improved Patient Care
IT system performance is critical to patient care in healthcare. Automated testing is an effective way to maintain reliable systems, improve clinician satisfaction, and enhance outcomes. Tools like Login Enterprise provide the insights and testing capabilities needed to ensure Epic systems are ready to meet the challenges of modern healthcare. By integrating solutions like Login Enterprise, organizations can ensure that their Epic systems are prepared to meet the demands of modern healthcare environments. The result? Better patient care. Unlock Epic’s full potential. Book a demo today to see how Login Enterprise ensures seamless functionality and top performance.
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