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Epic just met its match, and it’s not another EHR company.
It’s the federal government’s demand for true interoperability.
📊 Here’s what’s happening:
Epic built its empire on data control. For decades, they’ve maintained competitive advantage by making it difficult for health systems to share information outside their ecosystem.
Now the Trump Administration is forcing their hand with aggressive interoperability mandates in 2026.
The numbers tell the story:
• 1,000+ Epic hospitals now live on TEFCA
• 22,000 Epic clinics connected through Epic Nexus
• 3,000+ athenahealth providers already integrated
• Oracle Health (Cerner) applying to become the 9th TEFCA network
This isn’t just technical compliance. It’s a fundamental shift in how healthcare data moves.
For years, Epic argued that closed systems protected patient privacy and ensured data quality. They weren’t wrong. But they also weren’t entirely honest about the business benefits of being a walled garden.
Now every major EHR vendor is racing to prove they’re the most open, the most connected, the most interoperable.
The irony? Epic might actually benefit from this forced transparency.
When every system talks to every other system seamlessly, the differentiator becomes user experience, clinical decision support, and implementation expertise. Areas where Epic already excels.
But here’s the real question healthcare leaders should ask:
If true interoperability arrives in 2026, do we still need monolithic EHR platforms? Or does this open the door for best-of-breed solutions that actually work together?
The walled gardens are coming down. What we build in their place will define healthcare technology for the next decade.
♻️ Repost if you believe data silos are healthcare’s biggest barrier to innovation
👉 Follow me, Jonathan Govette, for daily, real-time updates on healthcare technology and business news. LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathangovette/
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Author:
CEO/Co-Founder @ Oatmeal Health | AI Lung Cancer Screening | Almost Became a Doctor | Engineer | Follow to Share What I’ve Learned Along the Way
I help patients get the care they need earlier, preventing late-stage cancer.
That’s been the throughline across three companies and almost 20 years in healthcare. At ReferralMD, we fixed broken referral networks so patients didn’t fall through the cracks. At Oatmeal Health, it’s lung cancer: building the diagnostic and screening infrastructure so the 85% of cases caught too late get caught early instead.
Today as CEO of Oatmeal Health, I lead a team embedding AI into radiology workflows to turn routine lung CT scans into reimbursable cancer risk assessments. We partner with FQHCs to reach underserved communities, and with health systems and payers to make early detection economically sustainable. Think HeartFlow or Cleerly, but for lungs.
Between companies, I advised at Techstars and Plug and Play, mentoring founders building in digital health. That experience shaped how I think about what separates companies that ship from companies that stall: distribution, reimbursement, and clinical trust, not just technology.
I’m a CancerX alumnus, a 3x healthcare founder, and someone who believes the biggest problems in cancer aren’t scientific. They’re operational.
We’re hiring mission-driven builders at Oatmeal Health. If you want to work on something that matters, reach out.
When I’m not working, I’m traveling, mentoring, and keeping up with one very energetic husky. 🐾
Substack – The Oatmeal Bite:
Millions of patients get less care because of who they are, where they live, or how they look. I’m fighting to change that. CEO @OatmealHealth, a startup built for the underserved. The Oatmeal Bite: intel for clinicians, investors, and advocates.
Jonathan Govette
CEO of Oatmeal Health
Substack:
https://oatmealhealthjonathangovette.substack.com/
