STEPS
- Based on your requirements, create scoring criteria by “weighting” requirements in order of importance. This will help you assess and compare vendor solutions.
- In the initial solution landscape scan, consult recommendations from partner organizations to narrow the range of vendor solutions in your problem area. This will help you zone in on more sustainable partners.
- Review related CCI tech vendor demos, case studies, and landscapes.
- Attend electronic health record (EHR) user group meetings and conferences to learn about new products.
- Leverage technology ecosystem resources like Prime Health, health technology accelerators, social impact investors, etc.
- Select between 2-5 vendors suited to your problem and research them more deeply. You might do this by:
- Conducting phone calls with and requesting demos from account managers at your top vendors.
- Reaching out to vendor account managers to review and respond to your requirements list.
- Using a tool like Valify (free for safety net providers) to invite vendors to submit responses to your requirements, in a process similar to an RFP.
- Document your findings and host a meeting with internal stakeholders (CIO, leadership, end users) to discuss the top options. Consider having all stakeholders review and “score” each vendor against the requirements list.
- For each shortlisted vendor, create a rough budget and cost-benefit analysis to understand the financial commitment. This could be considered an initial conversation around sustainability beyond the pilot project.