Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1141789
50 CIO / HEALTH IT Epic gets green light on $21M power line for growing electricity needs By Jackie Drees E pic will construct a $21 million un- derground power line at its Verona, Wis.-based 1,100-acre campus due to its growing electricity needs, which the EHR vendor expects to double in the next de- cade, Wisconsin State Journal reports. e Wisconsin Public Service Commission voted May 23 to approve Epic's construction plans. American Transmission will build the 1.3-mile high voltage line, according to the report. Epic will pay $10.2 million toward the cost of the power line, and the remain- ing costs will be covered by an estimated five million ratepayers in eastern Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Epic predicts its electricity demand will in- crease from about 15.5 megawatts to 30 megawatts by 2028. e amount of electricity exceeds the company's current power line's capacity, according to the report. American Transmission aims to start con- struction in January 2019 to have the power line completed and in service by May 2021. n Why patients are giving up on portals By Mackenzie Garrity A lthough patient portals often have a lot of valuable features, patients' use of the portals is declining at surprising rates, accord- ing to an American Medical Associa- tion blog post. One study, published in Health Affairs, found that 63 percent of insured adults who visited a healthcare provider in the past 12 months had not used a portal during the preceding year. Additional- ly, 40 percent of patients in the study reported not being offered a portal. Below are the top five reasons why pa- tients skip on portals, according to the study: 1. Prefer to speak directly to with phy- sician: 70 percent. 2. No need to use the portal: 57 percent. 3. No online medical record: 32 percent. 4. No internet access: 25 percent. 5. Privacy concerns: 22 percent. n Novant Health opens Institute of Innovation & AI By Andrea Park W inston-Salem, N.C.- based Novant Health an- nounced on June 5 the launch of its Institute of Innovation & Artificial Intelligence, which will use advanced technology to pro- vide personalized patient care and accelerated solutions. The institute will pursue this goal with the help of the health sys- tem's physician partners, as well as with technology companies, re- search organizations, universities and other healthcare organiza- tions. Through these partnerships, Novant will develop AI-powered solutions to generate data and insights for disease prediction, di- agnosis and treatment. Eric Eskioglu, MD, Novant's execu- tive vice president and chief med- ical officer, and Angela Yochem, Novant's executive vice president and chief digital and tech officer, will serve as joint leaders of the institute. n Optum funnels $16M into AI startup Health[at]Scale By Andrea Park H ealth[at]Scale, a San Jose, Ca- lif.-based startup developing machine learning solutions for precision medicine, has raised $16 mil- lion in a Series A funding round, with UnitedHealth Group's Optum as the sole investor, TechCrunch reported. The company's technology, created by scientists from institutions such as MIT, Harvard and Stanford, uses artificial in- telligence to match patients with provid- ers who can deliver the most effective treatments. The goal of the system is not only to enable precision treatments for patients, but also, in doing so, to lower overall healthcare costs by reducing the need for readmissions and other avoid- able post-operative care. Health[at]Scale's clients include hospi- tal systems, insurers and self-insured employers, though they declined to name any specific users to TechCrunch. Optum's funding will go toward in- creased sales and marketing to recruit more clients. n