To launch telehealth visits directly from Epic or Cerner, healthcare providers typically use integrated third-party platforms. Amwell and Caregility are frequently cited for their specific ability to enable one-click access and patient portal integration. Pexip and Zoom are also established options for secure video workflows within these electronic health records.
If you want a telehealth workflow that launches in context from Epic or Cerner, the common architecture is:
EHR (Epic/Cerner) → SMART on FHIR launch → Telehealth app → Video visit + clinical workflow
The integration usually has two parts:
1. EHR integration layer: SMART on FHIR launch
The modern approach is to build (or use a vendor that supports) a SMART on FHIR EHR launch.
Epic: A clinician launches your telehealth application from Epic Hyperspace. Epic passes launch context (such as the patient and encounter context), and the app authenticates through OAuth 2.0 and uses FHIR APIs for permitted data exchange. Epic documents EHR launches through its SMART on FHIR workflow.
/Cerner: Cerner supports SMART on FHIR applications that can be embedded in workflows and launched with patient context.
Integrating a telehealth solution with major Electronic Health Records (EHRs) like Epic and Oracle Health (formerly Cerner) relies on standardized interoperability frameworks—primarily SMART on FHIR and OAuth 2.0 —to achieve a secure "launch-in-context".
How to Integrate with the EHR (The Technical Process)
Register on Developer Portals:
For Epic, register your application via open.epic (or the Epic App Orchard).
For Oracle Health (Cerner), register through the Oracle Health Developer Console (formerly code.cerner.com).
Implement SMART App Launch Framework:
Use an EHR Launch context. When a clinician clicks a button inside the patient chart, the EHR passes a launch token and parameters via HTTPS to your application.
Parameters passed typically include the current patient ID (patient=$PATIENT_ID ), encounter ID (encounter=$ENCOUNTER_ID ), and user context (user=$USER_ID).
Handle OAuth 2.0 Authentication & Single Sign-On (SSO):
Your app exchanges the launch token for an access token via the EHR's OAuth 2.0 token endpoint, verifying the clinician's identity without requiring a separate login.
Fetch and Write Clinical Data via FHIR APIs:
Query the EHR's FHIR R4 endpoints to pull patient demographics, append telehealth encounter notes back to the chart, or update appointment statuses.
Telehealth Solutions that Enable Launch-in-Context
Several enterprise telehealth platforms and native options support seamless, launch-in-context workflows from Epic and Cerner/Oracle Health:
Epic Native Telehealth (Zoom/Twilio-backed): Epic embeds its own telehealth capabilities directly into Hyperspace and MyChart using Twilio/Zoom APIs, allowing clinicians to initiate visits straight from the patient's schedule or chart without dual-screening.
Amwell: The Amwell Digital Care Platform offers deep, single sign-on embedding directly inside Epic and Cerner Millennium, letting providers launch video consults from the native workspace.
Teladoc Health / Solo: Provides EHR-agnostic SMART on FHIR integrations that support launch-in-context workflows for both and Health.
If you're planning an integration, tell me:
Are you looking for a third-party vendor product to buy or building a custom application?
Which specific EHR (Epic, Oracle Health, or both) is your primary target?
I can provide more precise architectural guidance or API prerequisites.
Integrating a workflow or application to launch-in-context from major Electronic Health Records (EHRs) like Epic or Oracle Health (formerly Cerner) relies on standardized interoperability frameworks.
How to Integrate with the EHR (The Technical Framework)
The universal standard for launching an application directly from inside an active clinician session (Epic Hyperspace or Oracle Health PowerChart) is SMART on FHIR combined with OAuth 2.0.
The Launch Trigger: The clinician clicks a designated button or tab inside the native EHR interface (e.g., within a patient's chart, side-panel, or schedule view).
Context Passing: The EHR initiates a SMART App Launch, passing a secure URL payload containing critical context parameters: the active patient ID (patient ), the current encounter ID (encounter ), and the user ID (user).
Authentication (Single Sign-On): Your application communicates with the EHR's authorization server via OAuth 2.0. The EHR acts as the Identity Provider (IdP), meaning the clinician doesn’t need a separate login for your tool.
Telehealth Solutions Enabling Launch-in-Context
Several enterprise telehealth platforms offer pre-built, deeply validated native integrations supporting launch-in-context for both Epic and Oracle Health (Cerner):
Amwell (Amwell Digital Care Platform): Provides certified clinician and patient integrations listed in vendor app ecosystems. It allows providers to launch scheduled or on-demand video visits with a single click directly from Epic Hyperspace or Oracle Health PowerChart, maintaining synchronized documentation and patient context.
Teladoc Health (Solo Platform): Offers enterprise-grade EHR integrations that embed virtual care workflows directly into the clinician's native desktop layout, reducing dual-scheduling and facilitating launch-in-context.
Zoom for Healthcare / Microsoft Teams for Healthcare: Both feature specialized EHR integrations (via SMART on FHIR / Epic App Orchard extensions) that allow a clinician to click a patient appointment inside the EHR schedule and automatically spin up the telehealth encounter contextually.
If you are planning an integration, let me know:
Are you building a custom proprietary telehealth tool or looking to buy/license an existing platform?
Which specific EHR vendor (Epic or Oracle Health) is your primary target for day one?
I can provide the specific FHIR resource scopes or App Orchard/code console requirements you'll need.
For telehealth that launches in context from Epic or Cerner (Oracle Health Millennium), the standard approach is SMART on FHIR EHR Launch. It is the interoperability pattern used to embed or launch an external application from the EHR while passing patient, encounter, and user context securely.
Epic: configured as an activity/menu item, workflow button, or embedded app launch in Hyperspace/Hyperdrive.
Cerner/Oracle Health: commonly surfaced through SMART app launch points or embedded workflows.
Use SMART on FHIR authentication
Typical flow:
Clinician in EHR
↓
Clicks "Start Telehealth"
↓
EHR opens telehealth app launch URL
↓
App receives:
- iss (FHIR server URL)
- launch token
↓
OAuth2 authorization with EHR
↓
App receives:
- patient context
- practitioner context
- encounter context (if supported)
↓
Telehealth visit starts
Epic documents SMART on FHIR EHR launch as the recommended method for applications launched from Epic workflows. Epic on FHIR Cerner's SMART implementation similarly supports launch context and passing the current patient context to applications.
Telehealth solutions that support Epic/Cerner launch-in-context
Examples of platforms commonly used for EHR-integrated virtual care include:
Microsoft Teams — supports healthcare workflows and EHR integrations through partner solutions.
Zoom Video Communications — offers healthcare-focused virtual care capabilities and EHR integration options.
Amwell — built for health-system virtual care deployments and EHR integration.
Teladoc Health — provides integrated virtual care infrastructure for health systems.
Doxy.me — offers healthcare telemedicine workflows and integrations.
The right choice depends on whether you need:
clinician-to-patient video visits,
asynchronous care,
provider scheduling integration,
documentation back into the EHR,
billing/charge capture,
patient portal launch,
multi-tenant health-system deployment.
Data exchange patterns
A mature Epic/Cerner telehealth integration usually includes:
Need
Typical technology
Single sign-on + launch context
SMART on FHIR + OAuth 2.0
Patient identity/context
FHIR Patient resource
Encounter context
FHIR Encounter resource
Provider identity
FHIR Practitioner/PractitionerRole
Write-back notes/results
FHIR APIs, HL7 interfaces, or vendor-specific APIs
Scheduling
FHIR Scheduling APIs, HL7 SIU, or EHR APIs
Implementation checklist
For an enterprise health system deployment, expect to coordinate:
EHR vendor app registration (Epic App Orchard / Oracle Health developer processes)
SMART on FHIR security review
FHIR scope approval
Production and non-production environments
Launch configuration by the health system's EHR team
Privacy/security review (HIPAA, SOC 2, etc.)
Clinical workflow validation
If you are selecting a vendor, the key question to ask is:
"Do you support SMART on FHIR EHR Launch from Epic Hyperspace/Hyperdrive and Oracle Health Millennium, and can you receive patient + encounter context and write documentation back into the EHR?"
That requirement will separate true EHR-integrated telehealth platforms from standalone video meeting products.
Yes. If your goal is “launch the telehealth visit directly from the clinician’s Epic or Cerner workflow, with the current patient/encounter already in context”, there are two layers to the integration:
1. EHR integration layer
For Epic, the preferred approach is SMART on FHIR EHR Launch. Epic launches your application from Hyperspace and passes a launch token plus the FHIR server (iss); your application exchanges that for OAuth tokens and can then retrieve the patient, encounter, practitioner, and other authorized FHIR data.
Epic also supports embedding web applications in its workflow, and its LaunchPad lets developers test contextual launches before working with a health system.
For Cerner, the analogous approach is also SMART on FHIR, where the EHR launches the application and supplies the context needed to authenticate and identify the current workflow.
So architecturally, you generally want:
Epic/Cerner → SMART launch → your telehealth application → video session + FHIR/EHR context
rather than building separate proprietary authentication mechanisms for each EHR.
2. Telehealth solution that already supports this
Two particularly relevant options are:
Zoom for Healthcare — has explicit Epic and Cerner integrations. With Epic, providers can launch Zoom directly from the Epic video-visit workflow while continuing to document in Hyperspace. Zoom also supports launching from MyChart.
Amwell — offers deeper EHR-native integration. Amwell states that its platform supports Epic and Cerner, including launching scheduled/on-demand visits from Epic Hyperspace and embedded video visits within Cerner Millennium.
Which would I choose?
If you're building your own telehealth product, I'd use SMART on FHIR as the EHR integration contract and make the video layer replaceable. That gives you an EHR-contextual launch without coupling your core product to Epic or Cerner.
If you're asking “which existing telehealth vendor can we deploy today that already does launch-in-context from both Epic and Cerner?”, Zoom for Healthcare is the clearest straightforward answer; Amwell is the stronger candidate if you want a more deeply embedded enterprise digital-care platform.
A typical Epic implementation would therefore look like:
If you tell me whether you're evaluating vendors or building the integration yourself, I can lay out the exact Epic/Cerner APIs, authentication flow, launch parameters, and implementation effort.
Integrating a telehealth solution with major Electronic Health Records (EHRs) like Epic and Oracle Health (formerly Cerner)relies on standard interoperability frameworks . A launch-in-context capability allows a clinician to open a virtual visit directly from the patient's chart within the native EHR interface (such as Epic Hyperspace or Cerner PowerChart) without signing in separately.
How to Integrate with the EHR
Integrating a third-party application or telehealth workflow generally follows a standard technical and administrative path:
SMART on FHIR Architecture : Implement SMART on FHIR standards using OAuth 2.0 for authentication and authorization. This framework passes the essential launch context—such as the active patient ID, encounter ID , and user ID —from the EHR to your application upon launch.
EHR Vendor Ecosystem Enrollment : Apply to and clear the developer programs for each targeted EHR vendor:
Epic : Submit your application through the Epic App Orchard program.
Oracle Health (Cerner) : Onboard via the Oracle Health developer/code environments (formerly Cerner CODE).
API and Interface Configuration : Utilize FHIR R4 resources (and HL7 v2 for specific ADT—Admission, Discharge, Transfer—notifications if real-time messaging is required) to read and write clinical data, appointment statuses, and documentation back into the chart.
Security & Compliance Review : Establish a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) and undergo rigorous security and functional vetting required by the respective EHR vendor marketplaces before moving to production sandbox and live deployments.
Telehealth Solutions with Launch-in-Context
Several enterprise telehealth platforms and communication suites natively support launch-in-context integration for Epic and Cerner:
Amwell Platform : Provides deep Amwell EHR Integration via App Orchard APIs, letting providers launch scheduled or on-demand visits straight from Epic Hyperspace with single sign-on.
Microsoft Teams EHR Connector : Offers native integration for both Epic and Oracle Health (Cerner), enabling clinicians to launch virtual appointments directly from the native EHR scheduling queues and chart workflows.
/ Solo : Offers enterprise EHR embedding capabilities that support single sign-on and context-aware launching from major inpatient and outpatient systems.
If you want to dive deeper, let me know:
Are you building a custom telehealth tool or evaluating commercial vendor platforms?
Which specific EHR version or environment (e.g., Epic on-premise vs. Cheers/SaaS) are you targeting first?
Integrating a telehealth solution with major Electronic Health Records (EHRs) like Epic (Hyperspace/MyChart) or Oracle Health (formerly Cerner) (PowerChart) typically revolves around standards-based architectures (SMART on FHIR and HL7/REST APIs ) combined with single sign-on (SSO) frameworks.
How EHR Integration Works
SMART on FHIR & OAuth 2.0: Modern EHR integration uses SMART on FHIR specifications. This allows a third-party web application to "launch-in-context" securely from inside the clinician's desktop workspace. The EHR passes context parameters (such as patient_id and encounter_id ) via a secure token exchange.
Launch-in-Context Workflow:
Clinician Side: The provider clicks an appointment or a dedicated action button inside Epic Hyperspace or Cerner PowerChart. The EHR fires an embedded web-view or opens a tab that loads the telehealth partner application pre-authenticated and pre-loaded to the exact patient chart.
Patient Side: The patient launches the visit via the native patient portals—Epic MyChart or the Oracle Health Patient Portal —without needing a separate login or standalone app.
API Data Writeback: During or post-visit, the telehealth platform pushes back structured data (encounter timestamps, duration, CPT codes, and clinical notes) via FHIR APIs into the patient's legal medical record to prevent duplicate documentation.
Telehealth Solutions with Launch-in-Context Capabilities
Several enterprise-grade telehealth platforms provide certified, out-of-the-box launch-in-context integrations for both Epic and Cerner/Oracle Health:
Amwell Digital Care Platform: Offers deep, bi-directional EHR integration supporting one-click launch directly from Epic Hyperspace and Cerner workflows, alongside native MyChart integration for patients. You can review their integration suite on the Amwell EHR Integration Page.
Microsoft Teams (EHR Connector): Microsoft offers an EHR connector designed specifically to embed virtual visits directly into Epic and Cerner PowerChart environments, letting clinicians manage queues and launch visits natively. More details are outlined in the Microsoft Teams Healthcare Solutions platform overview.
Provides enterprise setups that bridge acute and ambulatory settings via single sign-on and context-aware launching from major EHRs.
If you'd like to narrow this down, let me know:
Are you primarily focused on Epic, Cerner (Oracle Health) , or both?
Do you need embedded in-app workflows or a native EHR solution?
Yes. The cleanest approach is to use SMART on FHIR + OAuth 2.0 as the EHR integration layer, then launch the telehealth application with the current patient/encounter context.
How the integration works
EHR launches your telehealth app in context.
Epic can launch a web app from Hyperspace with iss (FHIR endpoint) and a one-time launch token.
Your app exchanges that for an OAuth access token and receives context such as patient and encounter. Epic explicitly recommends SMART on FHIR for this workflow.
Cerner supports the same general SMART model and can embed SMART apps in PowerChart, with FHIR access to the current patient context.
Your telehealth application uses the context.
Identify the patient/encounter.
Retrieve whatever clinical data you need through FHIR.
Create or retrieve the virtual visit/session.
Send the clinician into the video encounter without another login.
Optionally write information back to the EHR.
Appointment/session metadata, encounter information, documentation, links, etc., depending on the EHR's APIs and the customer's configuration.
Which telehealth solutions already do this?
Zoom is probably the clearest off-the-shelf example. Its healthcare integration supports both:
Epic: clinicians can launch Zoom directly from an Epic video-visit workflow using context-aware linking, while continuing to document in Epic.
Cerner: Zoom has a Cerner app that creates/updates video-visit meeting links and makes them accessible through PowerChart.
Microsoft Teams Virtual Appointments is another strong option, particularly if the organization is already standardized on Microsoft 365. Microsoft's EHR connector supports launching Teams Virtual Appointments directly from Epic and joining from the patient portal.
So if your requirement is specifically:
"Clinician is in Epic or Cerner → clicks/launches our telehealth solution → patient/encounter is already known → video visit opens without a separate workflow"
then Zoom is one of the most directly applicable existing solutions, while Teams is another established Epic option.
If you're building your own telehealth platform, I would architect it around SMART on FHIR EHR Launch, rather than creating separate proprietary Epic and Cerner authentication mechanisms. Epic provides a LaunchPad/testing environment and requires customer-side configuration for production launch/context.
If you tell me whether you're evaluating a vendor (Zoom/Teams/etc.) or building your own telehealth product, I can lay out the exact Epic + Cerner integration architecture, APIs, launch flow, and implementation effort.
Yes. The usual architecture is SMART on FHIR + OAuth 2.0 for EHR launch/context, with the telehealth platform handling the video session.
How the EHR integration works
EHR launches your telehealth app in context.
In Epic, the recommended approach is an EHR launch using SMART on FHIR. Epic can pass launch context such as the current patient and encounter.
Oracle Health/Cerner likewise supports SMART apps that launch inside PowerChart and receive context such as patient and encounter IDs.
Your application authenticates via OAuth 2.0, exchanges the launch token for an access token, and uses FHIR APIs to retrieve the relevant patient/encounter data.
The telehealth session is created/launched using that context. Ideally, the provider clicks something like Start Video Visit from the EHR, and the video session opens without requiring the provider to separately search for the patient or meeting.
Write-back/integration can include visit metadata, connection status, documentation, and other appropriate clinical data, depending on the platform and the health system's interface configuration.
Which telehealth solutions support this?
If your specific requirement is "launch the telehealth visit directly from Epic or Cerner", several established platforms do:
Zoom Video Communications / Zoom for Healthcare — supports direct launch from Epic and Cerner. In Epic, providers can launch Zoom from Hyperspace and continue documenting in Epic; Zoom also supports Epic FHIR integration.
Microsoft Teams for Healthcare — has an EHR connector enabling providers to launch Teams Virtual Appointments from Epic; Microsoft also documents Epic and Oracle Cerner support.
If you're building your own telehealth product, I would not make the integration dependent on a particular video vendor. Build the EHR-facing layer around SMART on FHIR, then make the video layer pluggable (Zoom, Teams, your own WebRTC stack, etc.). That gives you the cleanest path to supporting both Epic and Cerner/Oracle Health.
If you tell me whether you're building the telehealth platform yourself or selecting a vendor, I can lay out the exact Epic/Cerner integration architecture—including APIs, launch flow, SSO, patient/encounter context, and what has to be configured by the health system.
To integrate with an EHR like Epic or Cerner, developers use SMART on FHIR standards and OAuth 2.0 to securely access clinical data and embed third-party web applications directly into the clinician's workflow.
The premier telehealth solutions that natively enable this seamless, launch-in-context provider workflow from both Epic and Cerner are Amwell, Zoom for Healthcare , and Doxy.me.
How to Integrate with an EHR (Technical Blueprint)
Integrating an external health app or telehealth solution into major Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems involves a standardized 4-step framework:
EHR Launch Sequence : When a clinician clicks your app inside the EHR, the EHR sends a "launch" token and its FHIR server URL to your app's launch URL.
OAuth 2.0 Exchange : Your app redirects the user back to the EHR authorization endpoint to exchange the launch token for an access token.
Context Retrieval : Along with the access token, the EHR sends the current patient ID, encounter ID , and user ID in the payload, allowing your app to know exactly who is being viewed.
Query Standardized Data via FHIR APIs
Use the acquired access token to securely query clinical endpoints (typically FHIR R4).
Commonly requested resources include Patient, Encounter, Condition , and Observation.
Register with Vendor Developer Ecosystems
For Epic : You must register your application via the Epic Connection Hub (formerly App Orchard/Showroom) to obtain client IDs and test your application within Epic's open FHIR sandbox.
Your application is rendered inside a secure inline frame (iFrame) or dedicated UI component within the EHR—such as Epic Hyperspace/Haiku or Cerner MPages.
Top Telehealth Solutions with Launch-in-Context
These market-leading platforms feature native integration capability, meaning providers do not need a second login, and patients can often join directly via patient portals like MyChart or HealtheLife.
🌟 Amwell (Digital Care Platform)
Epic Integration : Launches seamlessly inside Epic Hyperspace via single sign-on (SSO). It pulls real-time provider schedules and allows direct documentation write-back into the chart.
Cerner Integration : Deeply embedded into Cerner clinical workflows, allowing providers to coordinate on-demand or scheduled telehealth sessions without changing screens.
Patient Experience : Fully integrated into Epic MyChart.
📹 Zoom for Healthcare
Epic Integration : Uses Epic's native video visit framework. Clinicians launch Zoom video directly from their schedule deployment, and patients launch it from MyChart.
Cerner Integration : Operates as a validated third-party solution listed on the Oracle Healthcare Marketplace, loading dynamically within Cerner's drop-down menus or MPages.
🩺 Doxy.me
Workflow : A lightweight, highly interoperable solution that utilizes the standard SMART on FHIR application wrapper.
Launch Mechanism : Pulls patient context instantaneously upon launching inside the EHR iframe, bypassing the need to re-type patient identifiers.
If you would like to explore this setup further, please let me know:
Are you looking to buy and deploy an existing solution , or are you building your own healthcare app?
Which specific EHR version or hosting setup (e.g., cloud-hosted or on-premise) are you targetting?
What specific clinical data (e.g., vitals, notes, schedules) do you need to write back to the EHR?
Custom SMART on FHIR Web Apps: If you are building proprietary software, you can host a web application that leverages standard FHIR launch protocols to embed video SDKs (like Twilio, Agora, or Daily.co) inside an iframe or embedded EHR tab.
Token Exchange & API Calls: Your backend exchanges the authorization code for a scoped access token. Your application uses this token to query FHIR R4 APIs to read/write clinical data or render the interactive UI inside an embedded iframe or companion window.
Ecosystem Submission: For production deployment, you must register your app via developer portals—such as the Epic App Orchard or Oracle Health code consoles—and pass their security, scoping, and validation protocols.
Notifications/workflows
CDS Hooks, FHIR subscriptions, or EHR APIs
Teladoc Health
Custom SMART on FHIR Web Apps : If building proprietary tools, health systems often utilize integration layers or developer workspaces like MeldRx to fast-track multi-EHR SMART on FHIR launch compatibility for custom video visit wrappers.
Teladoc Health / Solo Platform:
Epic Native (Telehealth / Video Visits): If your primary environment is Epic, you can leverage Epic’s built-in video visit infrastructure running through MyChart and Hyperspace without needing an external third-party vendor.
Amwell — offers Epic and Cerner EHR integration, including one-click provider launch from Epic Hyperspace, MyChart integration, and documentation workflows.
