You’ve scoped the project. Budgets are approved. Your teams are aligned—or so you think. The Epic integration is supposed to be the final piece that brings everything together. But then it unravels. 

Timelines slip. Workflows break. Clinicians complain. What was supposed to be a catalyst for efficiency ends up bogged down in confusion and finger-pointing. 

Sound familiar? 

You're not alone. Epic dominates the U.S. hospital EHR market, with nearly 36% of acute care hospitals using its platform. But despite its reach and capabilities, integration efforts consistently stall—not because of the technology itself, but because of what happens (or doesn’t happen) around it. 

In fact, a HIMSS study found that 57% of organizations cite data integration and normalization as one of their top interoperability challenges. 

We’ve helped health systems, digital health vendors, and technology partners navigate the messiness of Epic integrations. What we’ve seen is clear, failed integrations follow patterns. So do the successful ones. 

Let’s break down the three most common reasons Epic integrations fall apart, and how to future-proof your own. 

1. Misaligned Stakeholder Expectations 

The Challenge: Embarking on an Epic integration without a unified vision among stakeholders—including IT professionals, clinical leaders, and third-party vendors—can result in ambiguous scope definitions and unclear ownership. This misalignment often leads to project delays and unmet objectives.  

Why It Matters: Epic's extensive customization capabilities necessitate meticulous coordination across various departments. Without clear expectations, the integration process becomes reactive, undermining the strategic goals of the organization. 

Strategic Solutions: 

• Structured Governance Models: Establish a clear governance framework that includes representatives from all relevant departments. This ensures that decisions are made collaboratively, and responsibilities are well-defined.  

• Unified Project Roadmaps: Develop comprehensive project plans that align technical and clinical objectives, providing a clear pathway for all stakeholders.  

• Regular Communication Cadence: Implement consistent communication channels, such as weekly meetings or progress reports, to keep all parties informed and engaged throughout the integration process.  

  
  

How HiPaaS Can Help: 

HiPaaS offers interoperability planning sessions designed to align cross-functional teams early in the integration process. These sessions help surface hidden integration risks and create a shared language across departments, ensuring that technical, clinical, and compliance stakeholders operate from a unified blueprint before the integration begins. 

2. Underestimating Data Mapping and Normalization Complexity 

The Challenge: Assuming that data from disparate systems will seamlessly integrate into Epic can lead to significant issues. Variations in data formats and standards across systems complicate the mapping and normalization processes.  

Why It Matters: Inaccurate or incomplete data mappings can result in clinicians accessing erroneous patient information, posing serious risks to patient safety and care quality.  

Strategic Solutions: 

• Comprehensive Data Audits: Conduct thorough assessments of existing data sources to identify discrepancies and establish a clear understanding of the data landscape before integration.  

• Standardization Initiatives: Utilize industry standards such as HL7 and FHIR to facilitate consistent data exchange and interoperability between systems. Osplabs 

• Clinical Validation Processes: Engage clinical stakeholders to verify that the integrated data supports accurate and efficient clinical workflows, ensuring that the system meets the practical needs of end-users.  

  
  

How HiPaaS Can Help: 

HiPaaS's FHIRFlo platform offers AI-driven data mapping and conversion capabilities, facilitating the transformation of diverse data formats into FHIR-compliant resources. By integrating FHIRFlo into existing workflows, organizations can streamline the data normalization process, ensuring that data is accurately mapped and readily usable within Epic. This reduces manual effort and increases consistency across healthcare systems.  

3. Neglecting Post-Integration Monitoring and Support 

The Challenge: Viewing Epic integration as a one-time project rather than an ongoing process can lead to inadequate post-implementation support. Without continuous monitoring, issues may go undetected, affecting system performance and user satisfaction.  

Why It Matters: Unmonitored systems are vulnerable to undiagnosed errors, such as failed data exchanges or system downtimes, which can compromise patient care and operational efficiency.  

Strategic Solutions: 

• Proactive Monitoring Systems: Implement tools that provide real-time analytics on system performance, data flow, and user interactions to promptly identify and address issues.  

• Regular System Evaluations: Schedule periodic reviews to assess the system's alignment with organizational goals and identify areas for improvement.  

• Dedicated Support Teams: Establish specialized teams to provide continuous support and training, ensuring that users can effectively navigate the system and that emerging challenges are swiftly addressed. 

  
  

How HiPaaS Can Help:  

HiPaaS provides comprehensive support for hospital expansions and multi-site rollouts, including Epic implementations in newly acquired clinics. Unlike traditional consulting firms, HiPaaS offers flexible, on-demand access to over 3,000 Epic-certified experts, with 24/7 availability and integration into your existing workflows. That means faster onboarding, fewer bottlenecks, and smoother post-go-live stabilization. 

Don’t Just Integrate. Orchestrate. 

Epic integrations don’t fail because of bad tech. They fail because teams treat them like IT projects instead of business-critical transformations. They fail when departments work in silos. They fail when no one owns the outcome beyond go-live. 

But it doesn’t have to be that way. 

Whether you’re integrating for cost transparency, clinical decision support, or workflow enhancements, the playbook is clear: 

• Align your stakeholders before a single line of code is written. 

• Audit your data like lives depend on it. 

• Monitor relentlessly after go-live, not when things break. 

  
  

Our partners report faster Epic onboarding, smoother data transitions, and improved post-go-live satisfaction, especially in high-complexity, multi-vendor environments. 

At HiPaaS, we’ve designed our entire approach around one goal: making Epic integrations actually work in the real world. That means battle-tested orchestration tools like FHIRFlo for AI-powered data mapping, structured planning frameworks for stakeholder alignment, and continuous optimization support baked in from day one. 

Ready to De-Risk Your Epic Integration? 

Book a 30-minute strategy session with a HiPaaS team member. Let’s turn your integration into a success story.