Georgia's largest healthcare system switches to the Mac

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in Mac Software

Emory Healthcare is switching to the Mac, making the MacBook Air its default laptop for clinicians.

Laptop on a wooden table with a blue desktop wallpaper displayed, next to a matte black mug with a wooden handle.
Emory Healthcare is switching from PCs to the MacBook Air



Emory has previously partnered with Apple on an app focused on Parkinson's disease back in 2016. Until now, though, it had standardized on PCs, according to Modern Healthcare.

Chief Information and Digital Officer Dr. Alistair Erskine told the publication that Emory had bought 830 MacBook Air machines in a program costing around $1 million. According to his biography on Emory's website, Dr. Erskine is "responsible for the digital transformation of the Emory organization."

He says that Emory will now supply the MacBook Air as its default laptop for all clinicians.

"I ultimately think the experience is going to be easier for the end user," said Dr. Erskine, adding that Emory clinicians have been asking about using Apple devices.

"A lot of doctors use Mac at home and a lot of researchers use Mac," Dr. Erskine said. "Just because we've been in the habit of not using Mac in a healthcare environment, I think they sort of tolerate the Windows-based device."

Dr. Erskine also said that Emory expects to recoup its $1 million investment in part because of the MacBook Air's lower energy costs. Emory also expects that it will save significantly on technical support costs compared to Windows PCs.

Epic EHR comes to the Mac App Store



As part of the move to standardize on the Mac, Emory is also rolling out Epic's electronic health records (EHR) software to 200 of its MacBook Air laptops. Epic is in the process of releasing its EHR software on the Mac App Store, which will make Mobile Device Management (MDM) easier for large clients.

Epic's move to the Mac App Store has reportedly been made because of demand from its customers like Emory, and with developer support from Apple.

Apple's working with Epic comes after disagreements in 2020, when Apple backed government moves to get patients more access to their medical data. At the time, Epic opposed the idea, claiming it would be "overly burdensome" on the US health system.



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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 6
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,633member
     “I think they sort of tolerate the Windows-based device”

    Truer words have never been spoken. 
    williamlondonrob53zeus423danoxwatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 6
    omasouomasou Posts: 610member
    Initially reading the title, I wondered how this was possible w/o support from Epic, Siemens, etc.

    It'll be interesting to see if this opens the flood gates for other HCOs.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 6
    chasmchasm Posts: 3,479member
    omasou said:
    Initially reading the title, I wondered how this was possible w/o support from Epic, Siemens, etc.

    It'll be interesting to see if this opens the flood gates for other HCOs.
    I find that reading the whole article really helpful in understanding the full context, as I’m sure you did as well.

    Too many commenters here don’t appear to have read more than the headline before commenting. You raise an interesting point with your comment.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 6
    VictorMortimerVictorMortimer Posts: 233member
    Epic?  Crap.  I was hoping they'd be switching to MacPractice.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 6
    9secondkox29secondkox2 Posts: 2,982member
    VictorMortimer said:
    Epic?  Crap.  I was hoping they'd be switching to MacPractice.
    I don't know. Both companies need serious UI help. Cluttery messes. It's amazing how some of the most important software is made by engineers and hardly any UI/UX guidance/design. MacPractice does look a bit cleaner, but also a bit less specialized. Epic's suite goes deep regardless of health specialization. 


    watto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 6
    kelliekellie Posts: 61member
    Even on a PC, the Epic user experience is nothing more than putting lipstick on a pig.  The back end has been the same for decades and they have a cluttered mess for a GUI.  This really isn’t earth shattering news. Whatever they put in the App Store will just make it easier to install a client on a Mac. The user experience will not be improved.  Epic isn’t writing a new app for Mac’s.  My medical center already has thousands of researchers and clinicians using Mac’s with Epic. There’s never been a barrier to using Mac’s. This new app will help with device management. Seems like Emory had a policy that restricted the use of Mac’s.  So it’s more of an Emory policy change vs. some big technical revolution.  I have to chuckle at the CIO’s comments on saving electricity using Macs vs PC’s.  Hospitals have Linear Accelerators for radiation treatment that use over 115 kw of power  just in standby mode, and 4 Tesla MRI’s which consume hundreds of thousands of watts of power.  Mac power savings vs PC’s are a drop in the proverbial ocean. Nice try though. 
    watto_cobra
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