Overview
Epic is a plugin for ChatGPT and Codex that connects an approved organizational workspace to its Epic electronic health record through an organization-specific plugin. Clinicians can review patient information they already have permission to access, including clinical notes, medications, conditions, encounters, and laboratory results.
The connection is currently read-only. It cannot update medical records, place orders, message patients, or override existing patient-chart permissions. Clinicians remain responsible for reviewing the underlying record and making care decisions.
Your workspace administrator uses the Epic template to create a plugin for your organization and chooses its name. For example, an admin can name separate plugins Epic Staging and Epic Production to distinguish non-production and production connections.
Availability
Epic is available in ChatGPT and Codex for approved ChatGPT for Healthcare and HIPAA-enabled Enterprise workspaces. Availability depends on your organization’s rollout, workspace settings, and Epic configuration.
Epic is not available with individual ChatGPT for Clinicians accounts. If you do not see the plugin, ask your workspace administrator whether your organization has access.
Compare Epic and Healthcare Public Data
Epic and Healthcare Public Data are separate plugins available in ChatGPT and Codex. They have different data sources and setup requirements:
Epic retrieves patient information from your organization’s Epic records. It requires organization-specific activation and configuration, an organization-named plugin, and each user’s own Epic sign-in.
Healthcare Public Data searches public healthcare sources, including medical research, clinical trials, medication information, and Medicare data. It does not access patient charts.
For public healthcare sources and setup instructions, see: Using Healthcare Public Data in ChatGPT and Codex.
Set up Epic for your organization
Your workspace administrator and Epic team coordinate activation, the Epic environment to connect, and approved user access. Before requesting the app in Epic, obtain the client IDs from your OpenAI account team. Start in non-production and validate the connection before setting up production.
Administrator setup
A workspace owner or administrator creates the plugin, reviews its configuration, and publishes it for the intended users. Workspace users then install that plugin, if needed, and connect their own Epic accounts.
For background, see Connected apps in ChatGPT, ChatGPT app templates, and Plugins in ChatGPT.
Request the app in Epic
Contact your OpenAI account team to request the non-production and production client IDs for OpenAI’s Epic app. Share the IDs with your organization’s Epic team once you receive them.
In Epic Downloads, search for OpenAI’s app using the client ID provided by OpenAI for the environment you are requesting. The requester needs permission to download apps for your organization.
Submit the app download request directly in Epic Downloads. OpenAI will approve the request. You do not need to go through Epic Orchid.
After approval, have your Epic team download and enable the app in the requested environment. Confirm that the approved FHIR APIs and user access are ready.
Request and validate non-production before moving to production.
Create and publish an Epic plugin
Confirm that Epic is available in the intended workspace. Before using patient information, confirm that your organization has the required agreements and approval for the products and configuration you plan to use.
After your Epic team has downloaded and enabled OpenAI’s app, obtain the selected environment’s exact FHIR R4 base URL and an authorized test account.
Open Admin Console, select the intended ChatGPT workspace, and go to Plugins. Find the Epic template and select New custom plugin.
In the New EHR App dialog, choose your own Name, such as Epic Staging for non-production or Epic Production for production, and enter a short Description. Use a name that helps workspace users choose the correct connection.
Under Epic environment, choose Non-Production or Production. Enter the matching FHIR Base URL supplied by your Epic administrator. Use the exact public HTTPS URL without query parameters.
Select Create draft. The plugin remains a draft until you publish it for your workspace.
Open the created plugin and select Publish. Review Role access, permissions, and tools. Choose the intended roles, complete the required review, and select Publish.
Your Epic team uses the client IDs provided by OpenAI to find and request the app in Epic Downloads. In ChatGPT setup, select the Epic environment and enter the FHIR URL. ChatGPT selects the matching OpenAI-managed OAuth registration automatically; you do not enter a client ID or client secret.
Configure access to the plugin
In Admin Console, open Plugins and select the plugin you created by its name. If it is disabled, select Enable and choose the intended access.
Review Role access for your Epic connection and any plugin role settings shown. Include every custom role that needs access. The Workspace role applies to users without a custom role; it does not include all custom roles.
Choose whether eligible users can install the plugin themselves or have it installed by default. Save or confirm the changes shown.
Review the Permissions and Tools settings for your Epic connection where available. These controls do not grant additional access in Epic.
Publishing, enabling, or installing the plugin does not sign users in to Epic. Each user must connect their own Epic account to each plugin they need.
Validate non-production, then set up production
Give your test users the plugin name. Have them connect using their own authorized Epic test accounts and validate the non-production connection using synthetic test records.
After successful non-production testing, have your Epic team request the production app download using the production client ID provided by your OpenAI account team. Once the app is enabled in Epic, repeat the ChatGPT setup with the production FHIR Base URL and a distinct name, such as Epic Production.
OAuth scopes and Epic permissions
The Epic connection uses OAuth for individual sign-in and read access to approved FHIR resources. Your Epic administrator must confirm that the selected environment, APIs, and users have the required access.
Epic uses the FHIR Base URL to find the sign-in endpoints for your environment. If your environment uses a nonstandard configuration, coordinate setup with your Epic administrator and OpenAI account team.
If a healthcare warning appears during setup or enablement, review your organization’s requirements before continuing. Accepting the warning does not establish or expand Business Associate Agreement coverage.
For more on access and approval settings, see Admin controls, security, and compliance for plugins and apps.
Connect your Epic account
Once your administrator has made the plugin available:
Switch to the intended workspace in ChatGPT or Codex and open the plugin directory.
Find the plugin name provided by your administrator, such as Epic Production. Select the plugin for the environment you intend to use.
Select Install plugin if it is not already installed for you.
Select Connect when prompted. Complete Epic sign-in and authorization using your own account. If Codex sends you to ChatGPT to finish connecting, complete the connection there and return to Codex.
Confirm that your Epic account is connected. Select Try in chat if shown, or start a conversation in ChatGPT or a task in Codex.
Connect separately to each plugin you need. Enter your credentials only in your organization’s Epic sign-in flow. Keep passwords, client secrets, and access tokens out of conversations and tasks.
Work with authorized patient information
After connecting your account, you can ask about patient records you are authorized to access. Examples include:
Summarize the recent clinical history for patient [authorized MRN or patient full name].
List recent medications, conditions, and laboratory results for patient [authorized MRN or patient full name].
What has changed since patient [authorized MRN]’s previous visit?
Available information depends on your organization’s Epic configuration, approved resources, and your existing patient permissions. Review the source record and relevant dates before relying on a response.
Protect patient information
Patient records may include protected health information (PHI). Before using Epic with PHI, confirm that your organization has an applicable Business Associate Agreement (BAA), appropriate Epic authorization, an approved workspace configuration, approval to handle patient information in the product you’re using, and any other agreements required for your intended use.
An enabled plugin, connected app, or accepted warning does not automatically mean that every product, service, or workflow is covered by your BAA. Use only the patient information needed for the task and follow your organization’s policies.
Do not send patient information, passwords, or access tokens to Support.
For information about eligible products and configurations, see: HIPAA Eligible Products and Functionality.
Troubleshoot access and connections
You cannot find the plugin: Confirm the workspace and plugin name with your administrator. Ask them to check that it is published, enabled, and available to your role.
The plugin appears, but you cannot connect: Ask your administrator to check that the Epic connection is enabled and available to your role. Installing the plugin does not replace these access requirements.
Epic sign-in fails or expires: Reconnect using your own Epic account. If the issue continues, contact your Epic administrator to check the environment, activation, and user access.
A patient record is unavailable: Verify that your Epic account can access it in the selected environment. The plugin cannot override Epic’s chart-access restrictions.
An error appears after Create draft: Refresh the plugin list and check whether the plugin was created before starting again. A new attempt could create a duplicate.
You use an individual ChatGPT for Clinicians account: Epic is not included. Eligible accounts may have access to Healthcare Public Data instead.