QR workflows into Epic
eClinicalWorks demonstrated QR‑code workflows that let external records be pulled directly into Epic charts as part of efforts to reduce clipboard‑style record collection. The vendor framed the feature as a way to streamline access to outside documentation during charting. (x.com)
A QR code is becoming a handoff for medical records: eClinicalWorks showed a workflow that lets outside documents be scanned into an Epic chart during care. (eclinicalworks.com) The basic idea is simple. A patient verifies identity in an app, the app pulls records from connected sources, and it generates a “smart health” QR code that a clinic can scan at the visit. (cms.gov) (eclinicalworks.com) eClinicalWorks said on April 9, 2026 that it had put production support behind the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services “Kill the Clipboard” initiative. The company said providers scan the code with eClinicalMobile and make the records available at the point of care. (eclinicalworks.com) (cms.gov) Epic is a major destination for those records because its software is widely used in hospitals and health systems. Epic says organizations using its Care Everywhere network exchange more than 20 million patient records a day, and about half of those exchanges involve a different electronic health record system. (epic.com) That matters because record collection still often looks like intake paperwork, portal logins, faxed notes, or a patient trying to remember medication names from memory. The federal pitch is to replace that with a patient-controlled digital pass that can be scanned in seconds. (cms.gov 1) (cms.gov 2) The records behind the code are not coming out of thin air. eClinicalWorks already connects provider organizations to Carequality and CommonWell, two large interoperability networks used to move clinical documents across different vendors’ systems. (eclinicalworks.com) (commonwellalliance.org) (carequality.org) Epic has its own plumbing for receiving outside documents as well. On its developer site, Epic says its software can receive structured documents and file them to the appropriate chart. (open.epic.com) The federal backdrop is recent. In August 2025, the White House and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said networks, health systems, and electronic health record vendors had pledged to support data exchange and help “kill the clipboard,” and on April 9, 2026 CMS showcased the first wave of tools. (cms.gov 1) (cms.gov 2) What eClinicalWorks demonstrated is one version of that promise: the patient arrives with a QR code, the clinic scans it, and outside records show up where the clinician is already working. The test now is whether more hospitals, practices, and apps make that scan work across vendors without sending patients back to the clipboard. (cms.gov) (epic.com)
