Epocrates
medical reference application
epocrates is a widely used mobile medical reference application that provides healthcare professionals with access to clinical information at the point of care. The software is designed to assist physicians, pharmacists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other healthcare providers in making informed decisions about drug interactions, medical calculations, diagnosis and treatment options. It was initially developed as a Palm Pilot application in 1998 and has since evolved into a comprehensive medical resource available on various platforms.
History
Founded in 1998 by three Stanford Business School students, early versions of Epocrates ran on Palm devices and desktop computers. By 2006, the user base had reached an estimated 525,000 users worldwide, including 200,000 doctors in the United States. Upon the introduction of the Apple iPhone, Epocrates became the first medical app on Apple's mobile platform.
Early funding partners [AM1] included Bay City Capital, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Interwest Partners, Sprout Group, and Three Arch Partners.
In 2010, the company grew to more than 250 employees and surpassed 1 million users worldwide, including 40% of the physicians in the United States.
On January 7, 2013, it was announced that athenahealth would acquire Epocrates for about $293 million.
In February 2022, Matt Titus was appointed as COO.
Products
The Epocrates app is designed for physicians and other healthcare professionals for use at the point of care.
The public source identifies “Epocrates” as medical reference application. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Epocrates, medical and application.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Epocrates”, the useful work is to connect “medical reference application” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5383792. The first chronological checks are 1998, 2006, 2010 and 2013.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Epocrates”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Epocrates primary sources, Epocrates archive and Epocrates research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Epocrates”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Epocrates” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.