The news: Epic and Microsoft are partnering to enable health systems to integrate Microsoft's OpenAI Azure Services—which include ChatGPT and GPT-4 capabilities—into their electronic health records (EHRs).
Why it matters: As hospitals look to reduce administrative burden, digital health companies and Big Tech players have been rushing to develop generative AI tools or roll ChatGPT and GPT-4 capabilities into their products.
It was only a matter of time before EHR vendors started to do the same.
Yes, but: Azure OpenAI is a product offering on Azure. Health systems that don’t run their Epic EHRs on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform won’t be able to access the integrated AI tools.
Microsoft could be leaning on its lead in the generative AI race—and its strong ties with Epic—to reel in more healthcare cloud customers.
This article originally appeared in Insider Intelligence's Digital Health Briefing—a daily recap of top stories reshaping the healthcare industry. Subscribe to have more hard-hitting takeaways delivered to your inbox daily.