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     During my Level 1 Fieldwork at a large university outpatient hand therapy clinic, I came to know Epic’s Maestro Care. To improve the quality and efficiency of health care, Maestro Care is an electronic medical record (EMR) system that records and integrates patient records to include treatment plans and protocols and provides communication tools. This blog will review my insights into Maestro Care’s benefits, limitations, and relevance of its implementation in a clinic. 

      Watching Maestro Care’s implementation made me aware of its ability to provide comprehensive data integration, interoperability, and implementation of customizable templates. Regarding comprehensive data integration, Maestro Care supports informed decision-making and continuity of care. This EMR system consolidates medical histories, treatment plans, and progress notes in one source. Next, in terms of interoperability, Epic’s Maestro Care supports coordinated care by providing a platform that facilitates the efficient communication exchange of information between healthcare providers and patients. Finally, in terms of benefits, Maestro Care offers templates that can be customized to support assessments, treatment notes, and discharge summaries/information. 

     Watching Maestro Care’s implementation made me aware of its limitations regarding a necessary learning curve and cost. Despite its somewhat intuitive initiatives to create a user-friendly system to ensure usability, a learning curve must be addressed via training sessions and continuous support. Epic’s Maestro care may be costly for smaller clinics with fewer healthcare providers and fewer clients/patients/customers (Duke University School of Medicine, n.d.). Epic’s Maestro Care includes software licensing fees, hardware expenses, and possible maintenance, and the cost can range from thousands to millions of dollars. For a medium-sized practice with 6-20 practitioners, the first-year costs range between $30,000 to $70,000 per practitioner (Folio3, n.d.). An additional fee/cost is associated with purchasing a computer system, hardware installation, software, and training (OSP Labs, n.d.). Epic’s certification program, which provides formal training sessions at its headquarters, can cost $2,000.00 per individual (OSP Labs, n.d.). Additionally, ongoing support and update fees range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars annually (Osp Labs, n.d.). 

     I carefully considered the pros and cons before hypothetically implementing Epic’s Maestro Care system. My small business will indeed be a small business with (ideally) three to five healthcare providers. In this context, I decided not to implement the EMS device. After evaluating user-friendliness, cost-effectiveness, and interoperability in a small business/clinic, I recommend against Epic’s Maestro Care EMR system. Instead, I would advise seeking a more cost-sensitive system for small businesses. However, finding a product that offers Maestro Care’s intuitive interface and comprehensive training is essential and can be integrated into other healthcare providers’ EMR systems to support coordinated care.

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References

Duke University. (n.d.). Maestro Care. https://medschool.duke.edu/research/research-support/research-support-offices/duke-office-clinical-research-docr/get-docr-0

EMR Guides. (n.d.). Epic EMR cost; Pricing breakdown by practice size. https://emrguides.com/epic-emr-software-real-life-pricing-examples/

Folio3. (n.d.). What is Epic software? The best guide for 2023. https://digitalhealth.folio3.com/blog/what-is-epic-software/

OSP Labs. (n.d). How much does implementing and integrating Epic cost? https://www.osplabs.com/insights/epic-implementation/