Epic Systems (MyChart)

What if we told you that the most important company in US healthcare was run from a farm in rural Wisconsin? And that farm contained the world’s largest subterranean auditorium, as well as Disneyland—style replicas of Hogwarts and the Emerald City? What if we told you that the person who started, runs and owns this establishment has legally ensured that it will never be sold, never go public and never acquire another company? And that this person, Judy Faulkner, is also likely the wealthiest and most successful self-made woman in history? Welcome to the story of Epic Systems, the software company that underpins the majority of the American healthcare system today. Epic isn’t “just” an electronic medical record (the category it’s usually lumped into), or an online patient portal (which is how most of the US population interacts with it via its MyChart application). It’s more akin to a central nervous system for hospitals and health clinics. Almost *everything* in a hospital — from patient interactions to billing, staffing, scheduling, prescriptions and even research — happens on Epic’s platform, and over 90% of American medical schools’ graduating doctors, nurses and health administrative staff are trained on it during their educations. Tune in as we dive into the almost-unbelievable story of how this epic company came to be! Sponsors: Many thanks to our fantastic Spring ‘25 Season partners: J.P. Morgan Payments https://bit.ly/acquiredJPMPepicyt Fundrise https://bit.ly/acquiredfundrise25 ServiceNow https://bit.ly/acquiredsn Crusoe https://bit.ly/acquiredcrusoefall24 Links: Save the date, July 15 in NYC! http://acquired.fm/nyc Epic’s Verona campus https://www.epic.com/visiting/ Worldly Partners’ Multi-Decade Epic Systems Study https://worldlypartners.com/businesshistory Episode sources https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uuw2GygyesM-0nM4ZHVL95XQYhntAnXqRLiHNx8v7RU/edit?usp=sharing Carve Outs: Ken Block in San Francisco https://youtu.be/LuDN2bCIyus?si=rHU8CjPAoeHck0uK Nintendo Switch 2 https://www.nintendo.com/us/gaming-systems/switch-2/?srsltid=AfmBOoq-kZTYsNm0_if1ONE-8GV0k1x77Nv41aWbkSpgrqSU9zcyQAog Knives Out https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8946378/ Brat by Charli xcx https://open.spotify.com/album/2lIZef4lzdvZkiiCzvPKj7?si=bdGrTidgRIKMMBNvjHzbWQ Music To Refine To: A Remix Companion to Severance by ODESZA https://open.spotify.com/album/7bNj7hUkbRbZzn36MdyvUk?si=tL7uLI15QVasFLXuRaKkZQ More Acquired: Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes https://www.acquired.fm/email Join the Slack http://acquired.fm/slack Subscribe to ACQ2 https://pod.link/acquiredlp Check out the latest swag in the ACQ Merch Store! https://www.acquired.fm/store Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.