Epic Integrates Firearm Injury Risk Screening Tool From Northwell Health

Why It Matters

Embedding the tool directly into clinicians’ workflow enables real‑time prevention interventions, potentially reducing firearm injuries and associated costs across the U.S. health system.

Key Takeaways

• Epic adds Northwell firearm risk screen to its EHR platform
• Tool flags high‑risk patients and offers free gun locks
• Integrates violence‑intervention referrals directly into clinician workflow
• Supports CDC call for hospital‑based injury prevention
• Available to any Epic‑using health system nationwide

Pulse Analysis

Hospitals have become the primary point of care for firearm‑related injuries, handling roughly 80,000 emergency visits annually in the United States. Public health experts, including the CDC, have long advocated for systematic screening in clinical settings to identify individuals at risk of gun violence or suicide. By embedding a risk assessment into the electronic health record, providers can move beyond passive documentation to proactive intervention, a shift that mirrors broader trends in preventive medicine and data‑driven care.

Northwell Health’s "We Ask Everyone" tool, funded by the National Institutes of Health, operationalizes this vision within Epic’s platform. The module prompts clinicians with concise questions, automatically flags high‑risk responses, and offers patients free gun locks—a proven deterrent for accidental shootings. Crucially, it also routes patients to Northwell’s Center for Gun Violence Prevention, linking them to counseling, case management, and community resources. Because the tool is built into Epic’s existing workflow, it requires no extra paperwork, allowing emergency‑department staff to act in the moment without disrupting care delivery.

The integration signals a scalable model for health systems nationwide. As Epic powers the records of roughly half of U.S. hospitals, the tool’s availability could standardize firearm safety screening across diverse settings, generating a national data set for research and policy. Moreover, the partnership demonstrates how health IT vendors can collaborate with clinical researchers to address public‑health crises, potentially inspiring similar solutions for opioid misuse, mental‑health triage, and other pressing challenges.