New Platform Expected to Help CRMC Recruit And Retain Physicians, Nurses, Allied Health Professionals And Other Healthcare Staff
By: Heather Thomas
For the Upper Cumberland, access to high-quality healthcare is more than a medical issue. It is a quality-of-life issue, a workforce issue and a long-term community issue.
The region is home to Tennessee Tech University, major employers, working families, retirees and people who travel from surrounding counties for work, healthcare, education and opportunity. Across that diverse community, access to strong local healthcare helps people feel secure about building their lives here – whether they are choosing a place to attend school, raise a family, begin a career, grow a business or enjoy retirement.
Cookeville Regional Medical Center is making a major investment intended to strengthen that foundation. The community-owned hospital is preparing to implement Epic, a unified electronic health record platform that will connect clinical information, scheduling, patient communication, billing and care coordination across the organization. Epic is expected to go live at CRMC in February 2027.
For CRMC, the decision is not simply about replacing software. It is about positioning one of the Upper Cumberland’s leading healthcare institutions to better serve a growing region for years to come.
“The timing of this decision reflects both where healthcare is headed and where our community deserves to be,” said Buffy Key, CRMC chief executive officer. “As a community-owned hospital, we have a responsibility to make forward-thinking investments that strengthen care delivery for the Upper Cumberland for decades to come.”
A Healthcare Investment With Regional Workforce Impact
As one of the Upper Cumberland’s leading employers, CRMC’s Epic investment has implications well beyond the hospital’s day-to-day operations.
The new platform is expected to help CRMC recruit and retain physicians, nurses, allied health professionals and other healthcare staff at a time when demand for clinical talent remains high. Many candidates have trained using Epic or currently practice in systems that use it, making the technology environment an increasingly important consideration when choosing where to work.
“We consistently hear from talent candidates that they want to practice using Epic,” Key said. “It is the system they trained on, the system they are most productive with and the system that signals an organization’s commitment to modern, high-quality care.”
For current employees, CRMC expects Epic to reduce manual workarounds, repetitive processes and information gaps that can contribute to frustration and burnout. A more connected clinical environment can allow nurses, physicians and care teams to spend less time searching for information and more time focused on patients.
“When nurses and physicians can spend less time fighting their tools and more time caring for patients, job satisfaction improves and turnover declines,” Key said.
That stability matters throughout the Upper Cumberland. As CRMC strengthens its ability to attract and retain skilled healthcare professionals, the region benefits from stronger local access to care, expanded services and fewer instances in which patients must travel elsewhere for treatment.
For CRMC, Epic is not only a technology investment. It is an investment in the people who provide care, the working families and retirees who depend on that care, and the employers who benefit from a healthy, stable community.
Connecting the Patient Experience
For families across the Upper Cumberland, healthcare is rarely limited to one appointment or one provider.
A patient may see a primary care physician, visit a specialist, receive imaging or lab work, manage medications for a chronic condition and eventually need emergency or inpatient care. For parents caring for children, adult children helping aging parents or patients managing multiple diagnoses, keeping up with appointments, records, test results and care instructions can quickly become complicated. Epic is designed to make that experience more connected.
The system’s patient-facing platform, MyChart, will allow patients to schedule and manage appointments, complete pre-registration, request prescription refills, review lab and imaging results, access health information and securely communicate with providers for non-urgent needs.
That means less time on the phone, less paperwork in waiting rooms and more direct access to information.
“From the very first touchpoint, the experience will change,” said Tim McDermott, CRMC chief information officer. “Patients will be able to schedule appointments online or through the MyChart app, complete pre-registration from home and arrive at our facilities with far less paperwork and waiting.”
MyChart will also support caregivers through proxy access, allowing parents, adult children and other approved family members to help manage appointments, records and care needs for children, elderly parents or loved ones.
Preventive care reminders for screenings, vaccinations and wellness visits can also be delivered through the platform, helping patients stay engaged with their health before issues become more serious.
One Digital Record Across the Care Journey
For physicians, nurses, pharmacists, therapists and other clinical professionals, the most significant change will be access to one connected patient record.
Today, patient information can exist in separate systems, creating potential gaps between primary care visits, specialty appointments, emergency department encounters, hospital stays and follow-up care. Epic is designed to bring those records together so authorized providers can see the same current information in real time.
“This is not about replacing one software system with another,” McDermott said. “It is about building a digital infrastructure that will define how care is delivered at CRMC for the next 20 years.”
The unified record is expected to reduce duplicate testing, improve medication reconciliation and make referrals and transitions of care easier to track. Epic will also provide clinical decision-support tools that can flag possible medication interactions, surface evidence-based order sets and support care protocols at the point of care.
“Every provider involved in a patient’s care sees the same real-time information,” McDermott said. “For complex patients managing multiple chronic conditions across multiple providers, this level of integration is genuinely life-changing.”
The goal is to give care teams more time to focus on patients and less time to search for information across disconnected platforms.
“The right care, at the right time, in the right setting,” McDermott said.
Building a Digital Platform for the Future
As a community-owned hospital, CRMC must balance innovation with responsible financial stewardship. Epic gives the organization more than a new electronic health record. It creates a digital platform that can support how the hospital operates, grows and delivers care in the years ahead.
Hospital leaders expect Epic to strengthen operational performance through cleaner documentation, improved coding accuracy, fewer claim denials, automated workflows and integrated tools for scheduling, supply chain and revenue-cycle management.
Those efficiencies can help strengthen CRMC’s financial sustainability while improving the overall experience for patients and staff.
“Epic drives operational efficiency in ways that directly strengthen our financial position,” Key said. “Beyond finances, Epic strengthens our ability to compete for and retain top clinical talent.”
The investment also gives CRMC a platform for future growth. Leaders see Epic as a foundation for expanding services, strengthening telehealth, improving coordination with community partners, supporting population health management and using new clinical decision-support capabilities as the organization grows.
“This is one of the most transformative things we could do for our medical center and our patients,” Key said.
Preparing for the Epic Transition
CRMC’s implementation work is already underway and will continue through the planned February 2027 launch.
The process includes workflow alignment, system testing, department-specific training and the development of physician and nurse “super users” who will provide hands-on support during and after the transition.
Training will be role-specific and hands-on, with support teams available throughout the organization at go-live. After implementation, CRMC plans to enter a structured optimization phase to refine workflows, address gaps and ensure the organization is realizing the full value of the system.
“This is a multi-year journey, not a one-day switch,” McDermott said.
For CRMC, the Epic transition represents a long-term commitment to the people and businesses of the Upper Cumberland.
“Our patients deserve the best. Our providers deserve the best tools,” Key said. “And our community deserves a hospital with the courage to invest in what is coming, not just what is comfortable today.”
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