Migration to Epic Beaker Laboratory Information System Moves Forward with Onsite Visit from Epic Team

The transition to the Epic Beaker laboratory information system continued to move forward this month as a team from Epic visited Yale Pathology to discuss details of implementing a new system that will improve efficiency, standardization, and alignment by enabling access throughout the Health System to all of a patient’s information in one place.

The Epic onsite visit January 22 and 23 included several meetings with the Yale Pathology team that is overseeing the transition to the new system, as well as a tour of Yale Pathology labs. Among the topics covered were implementing and using the new system, its guiding principles, project goals, and its benefits for clinical and operational sides and revenue streams.

The Epic team, from Wisconsin, is expected to return in March for an operational workflow kickoff, the next step in a process that will culminate with the planned full launch of the new system in fall 2026. The current Legacy Co-Path system, which has about 300 users, will sundown in December 2026.

Epic's Implementation Director Aaron Notlemeyer said their role as the transition team includes understanding workflows, the current system's state, as well as Yale's goals and objectives.

“There will be system changes that we’ll make to accommodate the workflows and needs based on the practice. Every site has their own secret to success so we want to adapt that, but there’s often operational change that happens, as well, on how to utilize the system in a way that’s makes you most efficient,” he said. “That balance is part of the collaborative conversation we want to have.” He said everyone involved should keep an open mind and prepare for change, and that their goal is have a system that is clear and fluid.

The Epic team, including Application Manager Blake Bosold, toured several labs, including Cytology, Grossing, and the Frozen Section. Kevin Schofield, CT, Director, Reference Services Clinical Operations, welcomed the tour and Senior Pathology Managers Cindy DeRiso and Keri Stratton explained functions of the current system.

The team leading the transition for Yale Pathology includes Angelique W. Levi, MD, Vice Chair, Clinical Operations & Reference Services; Peter Gershkovich, MD, MHA, Medical Director, Pathology Informatics and Cancer Data Science; Christine Minerowicz, MD, Chair and CLIA Director, Bridgeport and Milford Campus Laboratories; Sudhir Perincheri, PhD, MBBS, Medical Director, Digital Pathology; Cindy DeRiso, Kevin Schofield; and Lauren Skolnick, Laboratory IT Manager, Epic Beaker, Yale New Haven Health.

The transition is seen as an opportunity to work across institutions and build on the partnership being established in the joint operation with Yale School of Medicine and Yale New Haven Health.

“We are excited to collaborate with YNHH Epic Team and across YNHHS. We are fortunate to build on the collective experiences in implementing successful AP Beaker functionality and workflows at the Delivery Networks and can leverage resources within the Health System to implement positive change,” Dr. Levi said.

“I think the benefits of this transition are going to be two-fold,” said Matthew Zawalich, Vice President, Digital Technology Solutions, Yale New Haven Health. “One is to our entire referring community, aligning and streamlining workflows through the Epic platform. The other part, for the Pathology Department specifically, is going to be replacing the Legacy Co-Path system but also allowing some of the innovations that Peter (Gershkovich) and his team built to persist throughout the department with a new set of technical tools on the back end. It should be a great project.”