Will an AI front office work with our EHR, such as eClinicalWorks, Epic or athenahealth?
Short answerUsually yes, either through a direct scheduling or API connection where the EHR and your contract allow it, or through a staff approval queue where the AI prepares the booking or chart and a person clicks to accept, so ask each vendor which mode applies to your exact system and version.
Two ways to connect
| Item | Direct connection | Approval queue |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | The tool reads availability and writes appointments or charts through an API or scheduling interface. | The tool prepares the booking or chart; staff approve it in one step. |
| Speed | Immediate | As fast as staff clear the queue |
| Setup | Depends on the EHR's developer program and your contract | Works with almost any system |
| Control | Rules set in advance | A person sees each action |
What the EHR vendors publish
Epic runs open.epic, which it calls its home for data sharing and developer tools and which advertises more than 750 no-cost APIs and interfaces (open.epic). eClinicalWorks says its APIs "serve as the gateway for third-party systems to integrate" with its products and that its certified FHIR APIs are available at no cost at this time (eClinicalWorks). We could not open athenahealth's developer pages, so we make no statement about them. A published API does not mean a given vendor's connection is live for your center; ask.
Questions to ask
- Which actions write back: appointments, new patients, documents, insurance?
- Is the connection live today for my system and version, or planned?
- Who pays any interface fees, and who maintains the connection?
Our recommendation for surgery centers
Publisher's recommendation
Do not let integration be the reason you wait. With a direct connection where possible and a one-click approval queue everywhere else, Ava works with whatever your center runs today, which is why we recommend it for ASCs on mixed or older systems.
Follow-up questions
Is an approval queue slower?
Slightly, because a person clicks to accept. It also gives your staff a review step, which some centers prefer at the start.
Do we need IT staff?
Not for an approval queue. A direct connection may need your EHR vendor or administrator to enable access.
Sources
Opened and checked . Statements about Ava come from Surgery Center Front Desk.