Sawtooth Mountain Clinic prepares to bring pharmacy onto Epic

Sawtooth Mountain Clinic is preparing to launch a new pharmacy management system in early November as the next phase of its transition to Epic, the electronic health record platform it has used for the past year.

The electronic medical system, owned by Epic Systems Corporation, headquartered in Madison, Wis., is widely used across the healthcare industry and top-ranked hospitals. The clinic transitioned to the Epic software in October 2025.

For Phase Two, the software will integrate the pharmacy’s prescription processing, patient records, and clinical services into the same platform the clinic’s medical team uses.

“I know that the pharmacy team is really excited about getting through this migration and into sort of this modern world,” said Kate Surbaugh, CEO of Sawtooth Mountain Clinic.

The new system is expected to speed up prescription processing and give patients greater access to prescription information through MyChart, Epic’s patient portal. Patients will be able to request prescription refills and communicate with the pharmacy through the portal, Surbaugh said.

“So all of that will be much more transparent to the patients and more easily visible,” Surbaugh said.

The pharmacy will launch the new system Monday, Nov. 9, and will remain open during its regular business hours that day. However, to prepare for the transition, the pharmacy will close at noon on Nov. 5, and remain closed all day Friday, Nov. 6.

Surbaugh said the pharmacy staff will likely need a couple of days to learn the new system and asked the public to be patient during the transition.

In other Sawtooth Mountain Clinic updates this fall, the clinic learned in September it would receive grant funding through the Rural Health Transformation Program. Congress created the Rural Health Transformation Program to help offset financial pressures on rural hospitals and encourage innovative care in rural areas. The clinic will receive about $1.8 million for the first year of the five-year program.

Surbaugh said the funding focuses on chronic disease prevention and management, including increasing cancer screening and purchasing technology to support patient outreach. Surbaugh said the clinic will share more information with the public soon about how it intends to use the grant funds.

WTIP’s Kalli Hawkins spoke with Kate Surbaugh, CEO of Sawtooth Mountain Clinic, about the Phase Two transition to Epic, staffing, the Rural Health Transformation Program, and more. Audio is below.

Kalli Hawkins October 25, 2026