Oracle Health is using its data and technology muscle to move out ahead in the healthcare AI arms race.
Electronic health record companies are moving quickly to integrate AI tools into their platforms as advances with agentic AI open up new opportunities to tackle clinical workflows along with revenue cycle, patient communications and even clinical trial recruitment.
Oracle, which owns EHR company Cerner (now Oracle Health), touted its latest AI capabilities for providers and AI-powered EHR features Thursday morning during its Health and Life Sciences Summit in Orlando, Florida.
The data and technology company is putting more focus on its AI, data and cloud capabilities as rival Epic is also ramping up its AI tech within its EHR while also extending its reach to payers, life sciences and medical device companies.
Oracle's enterprise AI strategy is "purpose-built to handle healthcare's unique complexities" and the company is applying AI "end to end" across healthcare and life sciences, Seema Verma, executive vice president and general manager at Oracle Health and Life Sciences, said Thursday during a keynote presentation.
"It starts with Oracle's world-leading AI data platform, which collects every piece of authorized data to safely and securely provide the foundation that AI needs to learn, to power our advanced agents and to let our customers build their own and on top of the AI data platform. Oracle delivers a complete suite of products that addresses the needs of every stakeholder, patients, providers, payers, pharma, public health and researchers, and by bringing intelligence and efficiency to every interaction," Verma said.
Last month, Oracle launched its next-gen, “AI-first” EHR, the first major upgrade to the company’s EHR solutions since it bought Cerner for $28 billion in June 2022.
The new EHR was designed from the ground up on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and was not built on top of the existing Cerner infrastructure.
Oracle asserts its AI strategy is fundamentally different than other EHR companies, including its rival Epic, executives said.
"Oracle's AI isn't bolted on, it's built in. So it's like having GPS built into your car versus that older device that used to clip on your dashboard. It's connected to all of the cars, data, the speed, the fuel, the traffic, and it doesn't just give directions, it guides the entire trip safely and smoothly," Verma said.
The company rebuilt its EHR on a semantic database designed to handle AI workloads. It was also designed as an open ecosystem that enables customers to extend Oracle’s agents, build their own or integrate third-party models. "There are no walls in our garden," Verma said.
The health tech executive also made some pointed digs at competitor Epic about a month after the Verona, Wisconsin-based company made big AI announcements at its Users Group Meeting.
"I know that we're all hearing that some EHR companies are saying that they're using AI, but don't be fooled, because not all AI products are created equally," Verma said.
Oracle's semantic database enables the company to build an "army of AI agents not just three agents with cute little names," she quipped, a nod to Epic's gen AI tools called Art for Clinicians, Penny for rev cycle and Emmie for patients.
The company's AI platform "is not a bolt-on to older Cerner technology. Our competitors are taking that approach, and that's an 'epic' mistake," Verma said.
Oracle's semantic database is built specifically for AI as it enables AI models to work off "live, evergreen data," she noted.
"Uncovering the signals from data is one of the critical benefits that AI offers, but that requires a database technology capable of understanding many different types of data, so databases like MUMPS that were built in the 1990s can't do this, not now and not ever," Verma said. "The Oracle semantic database gives us a foundation, not just from clinical data, but also coverage rules, coding, research, treatment guidelines and anything else that our customers want to add."
When new data come in, the AI agents automatically adjust, Verma said.
"We don't have to retrain our models. On top of the database sits the Oracle Knowledge Graph, and this is Oracle's secret sauce. This is what separates us from our competitors. Our knowledge graph provides the critical layer of context for the data, mapping its relationships across the different domains, diagnoses, labs, medications, procedures and payer rules," she added.
This knowledge graph enables Oracle's AI tools to know that a heart attack and myocardial infarction are the same thing, Verma added.
The company's new "AI-first" EHR solution, which is available for ambulatory providers in the U.S., incorporates Oracle's clinical AI agent, voice-activated navigation and search capabilities and is designed to be easier for clinicians to use.
"The new Oracle. EHR is 'voice first' and the record writes itself. The AI listens ambiently as a conversation unfolds. It proposes the right billing code, the right lab, the right medication on what's covered by the payer, and even identifies clinical trials that the patient qualifies for. And the system identifies care gaps and the next best actions based on payer contracts, helping providers maximize quality and outcomes," Verma attested.
Oracle developed AI agents that can fill out the prior authorization request, send a prescription order, labs and handle billing, she noted.
The company also upgraded its patient portal with AI, offering a generative AI feature, built on OpenAI's technology, that enables patients to get plain language explanations of diagnoses, test results and treatment options. Patients can also ask questions about their medical records directly within the portal.
"Oracle is working to completely reimagine patient engagement through our new portal, giving patients access to their complete medical record and putting the power of AI in their hands," Verma said.
Oracle Health is also taking aim at revenue cycle management, unveiling what it called an autonomous reimbursement system.
"AI agents that verify benefits, that give patients a clear estimate of cost, that ensures accurate coding, that sees denials coming and corrects errors before claims are submitted," Verma said. "Our application of AI in revenue cycle aims at resolving the friction between payers and providers."
The company will first roll out AI tools for prior authorization and real-time claims adjudication.
Oracle is extending its AI agents to ERP to address workforce issues, such as recommending optimal staffing levels days in advance, and to optimize the healthcare supply chain, executives said.
The software giant also is building out its data and tech capabilities for pharma and research organizations.
The company previewed its life sciences AI data platform with access to Oracle's 120 million real-world data set, which contains longitudinal patient records that include genomic data. The platform enables providers to combine their own clinical data with Oracle's real-world data.
"They can then use our embedded intelligence, pre-built insights and AI reasoning agents to create and conduct studies without the need for hundreds of data analysts and reducing project timelines from months to days," Verma said.
The company plans to embed its clinical trials suite into its new EHR, eliminating the need for a separate system for data collection or data re-entry, executives said.
That software, which will be available in 2027, will enable Oracle EHR customers to participate in clinical trials using ambient listening tools to populate data.
"It will allow pharmaceutical companies and researchers to quickly start trials with our EHR customers, and it will provide a valuable new source of revenue for many community and rural hospitals that today cannot reap the benefits of participating in clinical research," Verma said.
The company also launched its Oracle AI Center of Excellence for Healthcare to offer a hub of resources and expertise that will help health systems and hospitals deploy and optimize AI across their organizations.
Will Oracle's AI road map bolster its position against Epic?
Oracle's focus on embedding AI throughout its EHR solution could help bolster its competitive position in the EHR market as Epic continues to gain market share. Oracle now has a 22.9% share of the acute care hospital EHR market, down from 23.4% a year prior, and it lost a net 74 hospitals and 17,232 beds in 2024, according to an analysis from KLAS Research.
According to a recent KLAS Research report, Oracle Health's market share has substantially declined, especially with large health systems, since its Cerner acquisition three years ago. The vendor has lost 57 unique acute care customers in the past three years, 12 of which are health systems with over 1,000 beds, KLAS reported.
Oracle Health has made big promises but has not enhanced the customer experience, according to interviews with 43 Oracle Health customers. KLAS spoke with these customers from 2022 through 2025.
"When Oracle acquired Cerner, they inherited a dissatisfied customer base, and post-acquisition, customer satisfaction has not
improved. Interviewed Oracle Health customers report their relationship with the vendor has declined, citing insufficient industry knowledge due to layoffs, a lack of clear communication, undelivered promises, and an increased focus on collections. Additionally, since 2022, more and more participants in the longitudinal feedback group say they don’t see Oracle Health as a long-term partner," KLAS Research analysts wrote.
Customers were optimistic about Oracle Health's rollout of its clinical AI agent last year, seeing it as an early sign of progress, according to the report.
Some healthcare executives told KLAS they are excited about the updated EHR and are exploring implementation. Many customers still have lingering questions about Oracle Health’s road map, KLAS reported, while others see Oracle's tech capabilities as beneficial to the healthcare market.
"The vision is a good one. If it were simply Cerner from Kansas City saying what they articulated as a vision, we might question whether they could do it. But Oracle Health is a technology and data company that is moving into healthcare, so their plan to essentially rebuild the EHR from the ground up using more cloud-based technology is very practical," the chief medical information officer at a health system said in the KLAS report.
“I am optimistic. I see Oracle Health as a strong long-term partner. A year ago, I would have said that I was upset with the lack of communication. Now, when I talk about the future, I see a high-quality EHR with a strong technology backbone in the cloud. I see where Oracle Health is going with development. … They have about 6–12 months to really show that they are going to keep on that pace," another health system CMIO said in the KLAS report.