Epic’s 2026 AI Roadmap: What International Nurses Need to Know Before Working in the U.S.

As healthcare organizations across the United States race to modernize their systems, Epic one of the most widely used electronic health record (EHR) platforms in the country is preparing a major expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) across its ecosystem in 2026.

For international nurses looking to work in the U.S., or employers hiring global nursing talent through platforms like NurseContact, these changes are more than just tech news. They will directly shape how nurses document care, coordinate with physicians, interact with patients, and manage daily workloads in American hospitals and clinics.

Below is a breakdown of how Epic’s AI strategy centered on what the company calls “Healthcare Intelligence” will impact clinical workflows, nurse responsibilities, and the overall patient care experience.

What Is “Healthcare Intelligence” and Why It Matters for Nurses

Epic’s concept of “Healthcare Intelligence” is about blending human clinical judgment with AI that is woven into everyday workflows. Instead of AI being a separate tool, it will be embedded into the Epic EHR platform that nurses, doctors, and other healthcare professionals use every day.

For international nurses working in the U.S., this means:

• Less time spent on manual documentation
• Faster access to patient information and history
• More support with complex workflows, guidelines, and hospital policies
• Tools that help reduce burnout by automating repetitive tasks

Epic’s goal is to move from simply “assistive AI” which offers suggestions to “collaborative AI,” where the system works alongside staff to complete multistep processes. This shift will be highly relevant to nurses navigating busy hospital environments, especially those adjusting to new systems and standards after relocating to the U.S.

Meet Epic’s AI Tools: Art, Penny and Emmie

Epic is expanding three major AI tools across its platform: Art, Penny, and Emmie. Each plays a different role in the care process.

Art: AI Support for Clinicians and Documentation

Art is designed to help clinicians by making patient data easier to search, understand, and document.

Key capabilities of Art include:

• Conversational search: Nurses and providers can ask questions in plain language for example, “What were the last three creatinine results?” or “Has this patient had a CT scan this admission?” and Art will pull information from across the chart, including:
• Clinical notes
• Orders
• Medications
• Imaging results
• Billing data
• AI-assisted charting: Art can help document care based on natural conversation between clinicians and patients. For nurses, this could mean:
• Less manual typing of routine information
• Auto-generated notes highlighting key clinical details
• Drafting of relevant orders or suggestions based on labs, guidelines, and prior authorization requirements

For international nurses, especially those new to the U.S. healthcare system, these features can support:

• Faster adaptation to Epic workflows
• Reduced risk of missing important documentation
• Better alignment with U.S. clinical guidelines and protocols

Penny: Streamlining Billing, Coding and Claims

Penny focuses on the financial and administrative side of healthcare specifically claims follow-up and coding.

• It will support autonomous coding, starting with emergency department and radiology visits.
• It will help follow up on claims, reducing delays and administrative back-and-forth.

While Penny is more of a back-office tool, its impact will still be felt by nurses:

• More accurate coding can mean fewer questions about documentation later.
• Less pressure on nurses to “code correctly” and more focus on clinical care.
• Smoother revenue cycle workflows can support stable staffing and resources.

Emmie: Helping Patients Help Themselves

On the patient-facing side, Emmie will be integrated into MyChart, Epic’s patient portal.

Emmie will provide conversational assistance to help patients complete pre-visit and follow-up tasks, such as:

• Uploading and verifying insurance
• Reviewing and updating medications
• Signing documents and consent forms
• Completing questionnaires before appointments

For nurses, especially those working in outpatient clinics, emergency departments, and primary care settings, Emmie may help by:

• Reducing time spent collecting basic information during triage
• Improving medication accuracy before the visit starts
• Streamlining pre-visit workflows so nurses can focus on assessments and clinical care

For international nurses who may be adapting to different expectations of patient engagement in the U.S., having better-prepared patients can make encounters more efficient and less stressful.

150+ New AI Features Coming in 2026

Epic has indicated that Art, Penny, and Emmie are only part of the story. More than 150 AI features and enhancements are in development for 2026.

These tools will be spread across:

• Clinical decision support
• Documentation and chart review
• Operational workflows
• Administrative tasks
• Patient engagement

For U.S. employers and international nurses matched through NurseContact, this continued growth in AI means that the hospitals and clinics you work with will become increasingly data-driven and nurses who are comfortable using digital tools will be especially valuable.

Strengthening the “Healthcare Network”: Better Data, Better Coordination

Beyond AI, Epic is also focusing on improving how data flows across the broader Healthcare Network the interconnected system of:

• Labs
• Retail clinics
• Community providers
• Payers (health insurance companies)
• Medical devices

Planned improvements include:

• Easier connections with national reference laboratories
• Closer ties with public health systems
• Better integration with devices such as continuous glucose monitors

For nurses, especially those caring for patients with chronic conditions like diabetes, this means:

• More complete information at the bedside or in the clinic
• Fewer gaps in lab or device data
• More efficient coordination with outside providers and services

Epic is also enhancing payer-provider collaboration with features such as:

• Automated coverage discovery
• Prior authorization checks
• Claim status tracking
• Automated documentation review

This can reduce delays in treatment and help nurses avoid repeated calls to verify coverage a common frustration in U.S. healthcare.

Deepening Connections with Federal Partners

Epic plans to expand data exchange with U.S. federal agencies, including:

• The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
• The Social Security Administration (SSA)

Additionally, Epic is strengthening support for FHIR-based data services a modern standard that helps different systems share health information more easily.

For international nurses working in U.S. facilities that serve veterans, elderly patients, or those with complex benefit needs, this can mean:

• More accessible medical histories
• Faster verification of disability status or benefits
• Better continuity of care across different systems

EpicOps: Bringing Clinical and Operational Workflows Together

Another key area of focus for 2026 is EpicOps, Epic’s healthcare-specific enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform.

EpicOps is designed to align operational tasks with clinical needs. Planned enhancements include:

• Integrated nurse and staff scheduling:
• Staffing decisions will be managed alongside real-time clinical needs in a single view.
• This can help ensure the right nurse-to-patient ratios and reduce last-minute staffing chaos.
• Smarter supply chain tools:
• The system will suggest substitutions before a case begins if preferred supplies are unavailable.
• This can prevent delays in procedures and reduce stress on nurses who often have to improvise when items are missing.

As AI becomes more embedded in EpicOps, healthcare organizations will be better able to match staff skills, inventory and patient demand. For internationally trained nurses, this may contribute to more predictable schedules and smoother workflows.

From Assistive AI to Collaborative AI in Nursing Workflows

Epic describes the industry trend as a shift from assistive AI to collaborative AI where AI doesn’t just suggest, but actively helps complete tasks across multiple steps.

In practical terms, for nurses, this can mean:

• AI helping complete portions of documentation during or after patient interactions
• Automated task suggestions based on patient risk profiles
• Real-time prompts about missing orders, unattended alerts, or abnormal results
• More support in managing complex, multi-patient workloads

For international nurses working in high-acuity U.S. hospitals, this can serve as an additional safety net especially during the adjustment period to new practice environments.

Supporting Safe AI Use: Research, Validation and Trust

To ensure AI is used safely and responsibly, Epic is expanding:

• Healthcare AI research with its customers
• Its Launchpad program, which guides organizations through implementing high-impact AI use cases
• Use of its open-source AI Trust and Assurance Suite for local validation and ongoing performance monitoring

This focus on validation is important for nursing practice. AI may suggest actions, but licensed professionals including nurses remain accountable for decisions. Proper testing, transparency and oversight are essential to protect both patients and frontline staff.

AI as a Digital Workforce and Tools for Custom AI Agents

Epic also plans to introduce more out-of-the-box AI features that function as a kind of “digital workforce” for healthcare organizations.

Additionally, customers will be able to create their own AI agents using Epic’s Factory toolkit. This means:

• Health systems could design AI tools tailored to nursing workflows in specific units, such as ICU, oncology, or emergency medicine
• AI agents could handle routine communication, reminders, and coordination tasks

For NurseContact’s community of international nurses and U.S. employers, this offers an opportunity: organizations that invest in thoughtful, nurse-centered AI tools may become more attractive workplaces with less burnout and more support for frontline staff.

Curiosity: AI Models for Healthcare Research

Epic is also rolling out Curiosity, a family of healthcare intelligence models trained on medical events from millions of patient records.

These models will be made available to researchers across the Cosmos community, enabling large-scale studies. Initial evaluations will appear in a preprint on arXiv.

Long term, this type of research can lead to:

• Better clinical decision support tools
• More accurate risk prediction models
• New evidence-based guidelines that inform nursing practice

Real-World Impact: Earlier Detection of Lung Cancer

Epic highlights that patients are already benefiting from human–AI collaboration.

At The Christ Hospital in Ohio, Art was used to review routine chest X-ray reports for incidental findings. As a result, the system contributed to more than 100 cases of lung cancer being detected earlier.

For nurses, this is a glimpse of what AI can offer:

• Identifying high-risk patients sooner
• Supporting early intervention and better outcomes
• Reducing the chance that subtle findings are overlooked in busy clinical environments

What This Means for International Nurses and U.S. Employers Using NurseContact

For international nurses planning to work in the U.S. and for employers hiring through NurseContact, the digital marketplace that connects international nurses with U.S. healthcare organizations Epic’s AI roadmap has several key implications:

1. Digital and EHR skills will be increasingly important

• Comfort with electronic documentation, clinical decision support tools, and AI-augmented workflows will be a major advantage.

2. Hospitals will look for nurses who can adapt to technology quickly

• As Epic rolls out new AI capabilities, healthcare employers will value nurses who can learn new systems and use them safely and effectively.

3. AI can help ease the transition to U.S. practice

• For nurses trained abroad, features like conversational search, guided documentation, and integrated clinical guidelines can support safer practice while they acclimate to U.S. standards.

4. Workplaces investing in AI may offer better support and efficiency

• Employers that embrace tools like Epic’s AI suite may create environments where nurses spend more time on direct care and less on repetitive administrative tasks.

5. Patient safety and quality of care remain central

• While AI will be more present in daily work, the role of the nurse as a critical thinker, advocate, and patient educator will only grow in importance. AI is a tool not a replacement.

Preparing for the Future of AI-Enhanced Nursing

If you’re an international nurse considering a move to the U.S., or a U.S. healthcare employer seeking skilled, globally trained nurses, this is the right time to pay attention to Epic’s evolution.

To stay ahead:

• Learn the basics of Epic and modern EHR systems
• Build confidence with digital documentation and clinical data
• Stay informed about AI trends in healthcare and how they affect nursing practice
• Partner with platforms like NurseContact that understand both the workforce and technology shifts shaping the future of healthcare

As Epic continues to expand its AI capabilities in 2026 and beyond, nurses especially internationally educated nurses entering the U.S. workforce will be at the center of how these tools are used, tested, and refined in real clinical environments.

NurseContact is committed to connecting international nurses with U.S. employers who are not only hiring globally, but also investing in modern, AI-enabled healthcare environments where nurses can deliver safer, smarter, and more efficient care.