Epic integration planning: a guide for healthcare technology teams

By Nathan Bodette, MD · September 27, 2026

An Epic integration plan should explain how a product fits into the clinical workflow, what information it needs, what the healthcare organization must configure, and how both teams will verify the result.

For a product or implementation lead, the useful starting point is a specific scenario: who needs to do what, from where, and with what information? Answering that question gives the technical discussion a concrete purpose.

This guide covers six planning decisions to resolve with your product team and hospital customer before build work begins.

1. Define one workflow clearly

Start with the person who will use the product and the task they need to complete. Describe the steps before, during, and after the interaction.

For example, a clinician opening an application while reviewing one patient's chart has different needs from a user opening a general work queue. Treat these as separate scenarios, even when they lead to the same product.

Write down:

The intended users and care setting.
The action that starts the workflow.
Where the user should enter the application.
The information needed to complete the task.
Where the user should go afterward.

Planning output: a short workflow description and a diagram that your product lead, clinical stakeholder, and customer analyst can review together.

2. Separate launch behavior from data requirements

Opening an application, identifying the user, passing patient or encounter context, and exchanging clinical data are separate questions. A useful plan addresses each explicitly.

Ask whether the application should open for a particular patient, a particular encounter, or without a patient selected. Decide what the product should display when expected context is missing. List the data the product needs to read or write separately from the information needed at launch.

Epic's public launch documentation describes application launches and the exchange of context such as the patient or visit. It also describes further testing in the participating healthcare organization's environment. Use the supported options and your customer's requirements to confirm the approach. Epic: Launching Your App

Planning output: a launch-and-context description, a separate data requirement list, and questions that need confirmation from the application developers or customer team.

3. Give each responsibility an owner

Make ownership explicit before setting a delivery date. A working responsibility list should identify who will:

Confirm the clinical workflow and intended users.
Develop and maintain application behavior.
Supply application configuration details and implementation documents.
Review and complete the customer's Epic configuration.
Coordinate access, security review, and test environments.
Run tests and resolve findings.
Approve production use and support the workflow afterward.

Assign named contacts as well as organizations. Identify who can decide when teams disagree or a requirement changes.

Epic's developer resources recommend an implementation kickoff that establishes task ownership and timelines. Use that discussion to expose dependencies before treating a target date as a commitment. Epic: Developer Resources

Planning output: a responsibility map with an owner, required input, and next action for each workstream.

4. Write documentation for the person doing the work

An implementation guide should give the customer analyst enough context to understand the proposed behavior and identify the decisions that remain open.

Include the purpose, prerequisites, environment assumptions, configuration guidance, expected behavior, and validation steps. Separate reusable product instructions from decisions that are specific to one customer. Clearly label examples and values that need to be supplied or confirmed.

Review the guide in an analyst working session. Ask the analyst to explain what they would do next and what information is still missing. Use those questions to revise the document.

Planning output: a versioned implementation guide and a short decision log, with owners for unresolved questions.

5. Test the workflow, including incomplete situations

Define expected results before testing. A successful application launch is one checkpoint; the surrounding workflow also needs review.

Choose scenarios that match the intended use. These might include:

The expected launch with the required context available.
A launch without patient or encounter context, where relevant.
A user whose permissions differ from the primary test user.
Missing information or an unavailable application.
Repeated use, multiple open sessions, or movement between patients, where relevant.
Completing the task and returning to the clinical workflow.

For each scenario, record the starting conditions, action, expected result, actual result, and responsible owner. Use the customer's approved testing process and appropriate test data.

Planning output: a test plan and issue log that distinguish observed behavior from assumptions and untested conditions.

6. Make the handoff and launch decision clear

Before handoff, reconcile the instructions with the configuration and behavior that were actually tested. Identify open issues, outstanding approvals, and any work that falls outside the agreed scope.

Document who makes the production decision, who responds to problems, and how a change to the application or customer configuration will be reviewed. Give the receiving team a concise summary of what is complete and what still needs attention.

Planning output: a readiness summary with completed work, test evidence, remaining dependencies, and named next steps.

Common questions about Epic implementation planning

What should we prepare for an initial planning discussion?

Bring a short product overview, one intended workflow, the question you need to resolve, and any existing implementation guidance you are authorized to share. Identify your product or technical contact, the customer stakeholders involved, and known timing constraints. An initial business inquiry does not need patient records or production credentials.

Can we plan before we have a hospital customer?

You can define a target workflow, investigate supported approaches, and document assumptions. Customer-specific configuration, approvals, and validation remain dependencies. Make those boundaries visible in the plan so a proposed approach is not mistaken for a validated customer implementation.

Does a successful sandbox test mean we are ready to go live?

It establishes what worked in that test environment. The customer implementation still needs validation against the agreed workflow, configuration, access, and acceptance criteria. Epic's launch guidance specifically anticipates testing in the participating organization's environment after sandbox work. Epic: Launching Your App

What does Bodette Healthcare Solutions contribute?

BHS provides physician-led Epic workflow design, configuration guidance, implementation documentation, analyst collaboration, and testing support. Nathan Bodette works directly with clients on a defined scope. Each engagement identifies the owners of application development, Epic build access, security review, production approval, and ongoing operations. Explore services.

Turn your implementation question into a plan

The Epic Implementation Planning Review focuses on one product, one workflow, and one Epic customer or defined planning scenario. It includes a written assessment, workflow diagram, key dependencies, validation questions, and proposed next steps.

Discuss your implementation or learn more about the planning review.