The University of Michigan School of Dentistry has announced a partnership with PDS Health Technologies to implement a customized instance of Epic, the nation's most widely used electronic health records (EHR) system. The collaboration represents a significant step toward integrating dental and medical care through advanced technology and education.

As one of the country's top-ranked dental institutions, the University of Michigan sought a solution that would bridge classroom instruction with clinical practice while supporting comprehensive, whole-person care. Through Epic Community Connect, PDS Health Technologies will provide a high-performance platform specifically tailored for dental workflows, enabling better access to complete patient information and improved collaboration between oral health and medical providers.

PDS Health Technologies' Epic platform brings substantial real-world experience to the partnership. The system currently serves over 13 million unique patients and processes more than half of all dental visits recorded in Epic globally, making it the most extensively deployed dental Epic solution worldwide. The platform is already supporting academic institutions and healthcare organizations across multiple states.

"This partnership reflects a shared belief that oral health must be meaningfully connected to overall health," said Preston Raulerson, president of PDS Health Technologies. "When a leading academic institution like the University of Michigan prioritizes dental-medical integration in choosing its platform for the next decade, it sends a clear message about the future of health care."

The implementation is designed to transform the learning environment for dental students and residents at the University of Michigan. With input from the school's faculty, clinicians, researchers, and IT teams, the system will provide access to more comprehensive patient information, supporting integrated treatment planning and more efficient referral coordination.

"Epic is a single, secure electronic health record that will be shared across our clinical teams, fostering stronger collaboration and supporting the safety of our patients by expanding access to their medical history," said Jacques E. Nör, Dean of the U-M School of Dentistry. "PDS Health Technologies has pioneered the deployment of Epic in dental clinics and other dental schools."

Cassandra Callaghan, Chief Information Officer of the U-M School of Dentistry, emphasized the partnership's role in the school's broader transformation. "Integrating Epic into our clinical and academic environment will strengthen the continuum between education, patient care and research. It will unlock meaningful data insights that will help us continuously improve outcomes for the community we serve."

Beyond immediate implementation, the partnership establishes groundwork for future collaboration in clinical research, population health, and advanced diagnostics. This positions both organizations to continue advancing dental-medical integration in academic and clinical settings.

The Epic platform's clinical performance features include revenue cycle alignment and real-time interoperability with medical records, capabilities that are increasingly important as the dental profession moves toward more integrated models of care delivery.

PDS Health Technologies, a business unit of PDS Health, specializes in delivering scalable health technology, revenue cycle services, consulting, and operations management for dental and medical organizations focused on integrated, connected care.