By Michael Dalton, CEO, Ovatient
As I head to HLTH USA 2025 next week, I am planning to be inundated by AI solutions and presentations. While I plan to look at and talk about so much more, it will be inescapable. So with that in mind, my bar for every “AI-enabled” solution is clear: Does it meet or even exceed the standard Epic sets out to achieve with Cosmos AI and Comet?
Epic’s Cosmos AI and Comet – announced at Epic’s UGM and shortly thereafter, respectively – mark the evolution from a system of record, to a system of predictive clinical and operational intelligence. That progression matters profoundly for those of us operating within what I call a virtual-first, not virtual-only model. Predictive intelligence isn’t just about anticipating the next data point — it’s about empowering clinicians to make the right call, at the right time, for the right patient without getting in the way of or superseding their expertise. It should augment it.
Epic’s evolution toward a system of intelligence isn’t an endpoint — it’s a launchpad. It sets the stage for a more proactive, connected, and trusted era of care for both patient and care team. At HLTH, I’ll be looking for how others are turning that same corner:
- Who’s building AI that augments trust, not just automation?
- How are innovators ensuring that the digital experience strengthens — not fragments — the relationship between patient and provider?
- And how can we, as virtual care and digital health leaders, turn these tools into everyday value for the people we serve and have the honor to work with, not noise?
From Record-Keeping to Intelligence: Why Cosmos AI Changes the Game
For decades, the EHR has been healthcare’s most powerful filing cabinet. You put things in — symptoms, labs, notes, messages — and you pull them out when needed. Incredibly useful, but largely static.
Cosmos AI reframes that dynamic. It can surface risks before the visit even begins, propose the next best action, and contextualize every decision against billions of clinical data points. By taking the cognitive load off clinicians, the patient journey becomes more continuous and less transactional — replacing fragmented touchpoints with a truly connected experience. The devil will be in the details so that this doesn’t function as a Best Practice Alert on steroids and simply become distracting but I am optimistic.
Image source: istock.com
AI Agents: From Notes to Workflows
Epic also gave us a glimpse of what’s next: agentic AI that operates around and inside the visit itself. Up to now, the focus has largely been on AI scribing — easing documentation burden. Helpful, but incremental. What’s coming is transformational.
Imagine this: before the visit even starts, the chart is pre-summarized, key risks flagged, and Cosmos insights queued. During the encounter, the AI proposes a “shopping cart” of orders and follow-up actions for clinician review. Codes and instructions flow automatically into the plan. This will require shifting the cognitive load from the provider to ascertain if these are the right recommendations but should be helpful in the long run. This is AI evolving into closed-loop workflow orchestration.
One Patient, One Identity, One Connected Experience
Epic also unveiled something deceptively simple: MyChart Centraland a unified Epic-issued and managed patient identity. It may sound like plumbing, but when I tell people what’s coming, they’re ecstatic! It’s actually the foundation of a more human health experience and has been a long time coming. Health systems in Wisconsin and Louisiana have started to roll this out and we should expect
One identity means no more juggling accounts, wondering if messages were received, or restarting every time you cross a digital front door. For Ovatient, that translates to higher patient activation, broader reach, and better continuity. More than 95% of our patients are already using our MyChart so this will be a game changer.
But more importantly, it embodies our philosophy: there should be no wrong door in healthcare — especially digital ones.
When every patient interaction ties back to one longitudinal record through Epic’s Care Everywhere, trust flourishes. And in virtual-first care, trust is the currency that sustains engagement.
Patient-Facing AI: Building the Digital Health Home
Perhaps the most underappreciated development is Epic’s patient-facing AI — embedded directly in MyChart. By keeping AI-guided insights inside the EHR ecosystem, Epic ensures that provenance, privacy, and clinical safety remain intact.
Patients can interpret results, understand next steps, and act — all within the same trusted environment their clinicians use. That shared context enables something healthcare has long promised but rarely delivered: true shared decision-making.
At Ovatient, we call this the Digital Health Home™: one place where patients can understand, act on, and complete their care journey. When intelligence and care live in the same place, continuity, understanding, and in turn, confidence, follow naturally.
Why This Matters — and What I’ll Be Watching for at HLTH
At Ovatient, our mission is simple: to make this a reality as we set the standard for virtual care. We operate a virtual-first, Epic-based multispecialty practice that complements — not competes with — our partners’ clinics. By connecting directly into existing systems, every patient interaction builds on the last, whether or not its at Ovatient, our health system customer or at another health system across the state.
The goal is clear: one patient, one shared identity, one connected experience. Every step toward that vision builds the kind of trust that patients — and providers — deserve. Who’s building AI that augmentstrust, not just automation? My bet is on Epic.
