"Even more impressive was that they had compiled their experience and knowledge of negotiating these contracts into a database allowing them to reference their prior negotiation success"
"Our facility had conducted a very thorough evaluation of three health information systems, and found the contract provided by the vendor to be extremely weighted toward the interests of the vendor. We sought the services of a consultant to make the language of the agreement/contract defining the service, software, and equipment to be more “fair and balanced” thereby representing the interests of our hospital as well the vendor’s interests.
After phone interviews with prospective consultants, we were impressed by the knowledge that CharlesRiver Advisors had of HIS contract negotiation. Even more impressive was that they had compiled their experience and knowledge of negotiating these contracts into a database, allowing them to reference their prior negotiation successes. They were able to represent us in negotiating the contract within our timeframe of thirty (30) days allowing us to keep on our timeline for implementation. CharlesRiver Advisors’ expansive knowledge of the marketplace helped them to address the inclusion of more balanced contract provisions for our facility. These included improving the quoted hardware specifications, alerting us to software that had been omitted from the contract, and saving us thousands of dollars in the software/hardware costs and future maintenance fees. We were very pleased with our results and would highly recommend CharlesRiver Advisors for consideration by others. "
Roland R. Carlson, President/CEO; Pana Community Hospital, Pana, IL, 217-562-6313, Trina Casner, CFO/Chief Clinical Officer, 217-562-6308, Dianne Bailey, Manager of Health Information Technology; 217-562-6235
"Your organization has been one of the best that we have ever worked with, bar none. You have been straightforward, low key, thorough and a great value. We reviewed multiple vendor proposals to convert our document images as we moved to the Meditech 6.0 platform. We had a significant concern about CharlesRiver Advisors because their quote was significantly less than competitors. After several conversations, we were convinced they had included everything in their quote so we entered into a contract. Boy, were we surprised. We got a lot of consultation, lots of communication and hand holding. CharlesRiver Advisors provided us with significant value for our money. Our plans are to continue to work with CharlesRiver Advisors whenever we need assistance.” Randy McCleese, CHCIO, FHIMSS, VP & CIO, St. Claire Regional Medical Center, Moorehead KY, (606) 783-6560 "We are a critical access that will be installing an entire HIS in 2011. Being a small hospital, we did not have the resources or the knowledge to properly negotiate contracts with the two vendors that we were considering. CharlesRiver Advisors (CharlesRiver) provided us with outstanding advice in negotiating with these two vendors not only in securing large discounts, more favorable payment terms and other protections that most likely we would not have been able to obtain on our own. During this process, we learned that CharlesRiver had worked with these two vendors on numerous occasions and were very familiar with the major “players” from both companies. I believe this familiarity was extremely beneficial during contract negotiation. The expertise that CharlesRiver provided was worth many times over the amount of fees that we paid. We were so impressed with the value that we received in connection with the contract negotiation phase, we have retained CharlesRiver to advise us in the development of new infrastructure as well as providing project management services. I would, without hesitation, recommend CharlesRiver to any hospital that is considering the purchase of a health information system." Joe Barnes, Chief Financial Officer, Grant Memorial Hospital, Petersburg WV, 304-257-5802, jbarnes@grantmemorial.com “CharlesRiver Advisors provided us with outstanding resources and support services throughout our HIS vendor selection process. They helped us negotiate additional discounts and concessions, non-performance remedies and ongoing protections with our top two vendors. In addition, CharlesRiver’s contract analysis tools provided a normalized view of each competitor’s agreement to insure that we were comparing “apples to apples” in terms of the scope, content and specifications of each vendor’s proposal. Specifically, CharlesRiver identified over 300 separate contract issues with our eventual vendor of choice, resulting in a virtual rewrite of the vendor’s agreement. From a cost perspective, CharlesRiver was responsible for negotiating an additional $80,000 in capital and $50,000 in annual expense on top of the discounts the Hospital had already negotiated. It was a real pleasure working with Tom and Fred, both top-notch Consultants in HIT vendor selection, contract review and negotiation. I would wholeheartedly recommend their services to any healthcare institution that is contemplating health information technology acquisition.” Bruce Peterson; Chief Information Officer, Rome Memorial Hospital, Rome NY. 315-338-7178 bpeterson@romehospital.org
"CharlesRiver Advisors' Smart Plan provided us with the catalyst we needed to move forward with our IT strategic plan."
“We engaged CharlesRiver Advisors to help us with our contract negotiation phase of our HIS selection. Their rigorous process and attention to detail created a constructive dialogue with our final two vendors. Their approach ensured that the contract accurately reflected the deliverables and established an accurate comparative 5-year cost for the finalist vendors. Their national vendor database of contract language, pricing concessions and “Apples to Apples” spreadsheet comparisons allowed them to leverage a best-overall contract for us. The service was well worth it.”
Nathan Blad, CFO-Renville County Hospital, Renville MN- 320-523-1261, bladn@rchospital.com
" The information provided in the plan was comprehensive and pertinent to our organization, which allowed us to make significant improvements. We are now in a better position to begin the selection of a new hospital information system. We found CharlesRiver to be responsive, professional, knowledgable and committed to providing quality services. I would not hesitate to utilize their services again in the future."Linda Drinkwater, Assistant CFO, Waldo County Healthcare, Inc., 207-338-9370
" I would not hesitate in recommending CharlesRiver Advisors and look forward to a continued working relationship"
" We contracted with CharlesRiver Advisors, LLC to perform an IT Assessment, HIPAA Assessment, development of an IT Strategic Plan, HIS vendor selection, negotiate the final contract and the project management of the implementation of the new HIS. Their expertise throughout the entire process was beyond expectations. They navigated the entire selection process in a manner which made the process very efficient. They did not attempt to steer us toward a particular vendor and their negotiations of the contract gave us protections which we would never even have thought of. I would not hesitate in recommending CharlesRiver Advisors and look forward to a continued working relationship"
-Chris Gross, CFO, Mille Lacs Health System, MN 320-532-7990
" This has proven an invaluable service that saved us many thousands of dollars."
"Charlesriver Advisors was selected to assist us in negotiating our contracts for our new healthcare information system. CharlesRiver worked very diligently to guide us through the process of reading the fine print, assessing the real costs over five years and finding the hidden"gotchas". I would recommend CharlesRiver to assist you in your endeavors."
-Jerry Horton, CIO, Bob Wilson Mem. Grant County Hosp.KS, 620-575-5866
" We learned of CharlesRiver Advisors through another behavioral health agency they had worked with in our region"
"We realized that we needed to implement an Electronic Medical Record system (EMR) and to start the initiative needed to develop an Information Technology Strategic Plan. It was extremely important to us to have our plan developed by an independent party, and we are please that we chose CharlesRiver Advisors to assist us with the development of our Information Technology Strategic Plan. Through interviews and surveys of users and management, they were able to define and prioritize our organization's IT needs. As part of the planning process CR issued a Request for Information for our early planning process for the EMR. We now have a plan that will enable us to acquire the EMR that we need, and we owe it to CR's expertise. We plan on continuing to work with CR as we implement our Strategic Plan."
- Arthur McLeod, CFO, CAB Health & Recovery Services., MA, 978-968-1706
"They turned the contract around in record time"
"We contracted with CharlesRiver Advisors to do our contract negotiation for a PACS system. We were already pretty set for the configuration and pricing, but needed help with the terms and conditions part of the agreement. We were not totally comfortable with doing it ourselves, and certainly didn't have the appropriate time to devote to it.
CharlesRiver was able to negotiate several changes to the MLA in our favor, and they turned the contract around in record time."
– Lorainne Nichols, Chief Information Officer
Alice Peck Day, NH
603-448-7435
"Expertise, diplomacy and expert handling"
"Our facility faced an ongoing and ever mounting crisis associated with a plethora of installed “best of breed” legacy systems. All worked well independently but not so well with each other in an efficient and effective manner.
In 2005, we contracted with CharlesRiver Advisors to help us develop an IT Strategic Plan and then to assist us with a vendor selection and contract negotiation process. After almost 13 months, we came away with having selected Meditech whom we believed was both an affordable and effective replacement.
The expertise, diplomacy, and expert handling by CharlesRiver were evident throughout the process. The tools employed, effort expended and knowledge gained from them was invaluable.
Bothwell Regional Health Center made the right choice with CharlesRiver Advisors. The entire experience was both professional, and pleasant – with customer service at the forefront of their efforts. I, and this facility, can whole heartedly recommend them and would be glad to speak to anyone considering using them for a project of their own."
– Greg Collins, Director, Information Services
Bothwell Regional Medical Center, MO
660-829-7799
"We were able to meet our live date"
"Jefferson Memorial Hospital went live with the first phase of our new system December 1, 2005. Since the training and implementation began in February 2005 the timeframe required for conversions to be tested and checked for accuracy was minimal.
Because of the required timeline, JMH decided to contract with CharlesRiver Advisors, for conversion services. As a result of their expertise with the system we were replacing, Siemens MedSeries4, and our new vendor Meditech, we were able to maintain the rigorous schedule necessary to meet our live date.
Their conversion tools and vast knowledge of converting disparate systems, was instrumental in our successful implementation. Subsequent to going live, we have also contracted with CharlesRiver for NPR Report Writer training. As with their conversion services, the NPR training can only be rated as superior."
– Jan Poneta, Director IS
Jefferson Memorial Hospital
636-933-1362
"Nothing short of a professional experience"
"A year after converting to our new system, we needed to stop paying maintenance/access fees and de-install our legacy vendors billing system, Siemens, yet still retain access for up to seven years worth of this patient billing data including demographics, comments, coding, UBs and 1500s. Searching paper, CDs, or fiche were not valid options with technology today.
CharlesRiver Advisors provided us with a searchable and secure archive solution that looks better than the original data to meet this requirement. In the process CharlesRiver Advisors provided quality assurance of the source data and worked with Siemens on our behalf. The archive solution proved to be very timely and working with CharlesRiver was nothing short of a professional experience."
– Charlie Caruso, Chief Information Officer
Goodall Hospital
207-490-7481
"We made the right choice with CharlesRiver"
"We learned of CharlesRiver Advisors through three other hospitals they had worked with in our region. Based upon high recommendations from these hospitals we chose to use them for contract negotiations between our final two vendors.
It became evident from the beginning that we had made the right choice. Their knowledge of the industry is impressive, customer service is excellent and the methods they use throughout the process make it very efficient. I would most certainly utilize them again if the need arose."
– Mick Hagwell, Chief Financial Officer
Keweenaw Memorial Medical Center
906-337-6500
"We now have a plan"
"When our organization identified an Electronic Medical Record as one of its strategic initiatives, I honestly didn’t know where to start. Based on prior experience, I did know that the process we used to get the EMR in place would be just as important as the EMR itself.
It was extremely important for us to have our plan developed by an independent party, and we are pleased that we chose CharlesRiver Advisors to assist us with the development of our Information Technology Strategic Plan. Through interviews and surveys of users and management, they were able to define and prioritize our organization’s IT needs. We now have a plan that will get us to an EMR that we are excited about, and we owe it to CharlesRiver's expertise.
We continue to work with CharlesRiver Advisors as questions regarding the plan come up, and we would not hesitate to use them again for other IT projects."
– Cindy Morin, Chief Financial Officer
Houlton Regional Hospital
207-532-2900
"The turn around time could not have been better"
"Ozarks Medical Center converted off of the Siemens MedSeries4-AS/400 platform to our new system in 2005. CharlesRiver Advisors provided invaluable assistance with our conversions..
We converted our Vendor Master, Materials Items, Employee Demographics, Master Patient Index, Abstracting, and a Full AR Detail Conversion. It was not uncommon for conversion files to be transmitted in the late afternoon and received before Midnight! The turn around times and the quality of the service provided could not have been better.
Additionally they assisted us with automating our Press Ganey patient satisfaction data, interfacing Meditech to our Budgeting/Cost Accounting system, On-Site NPR Training, and several custom billing programs for our Rural Health Clinics. Again, they were flawless in their delivery of every project assigned to them."
– Jim Johnson, Director Information Services
Ozarks Medical Center
417-256-9111
"CharlesRiver went beyond our expectations"
"Our installation schedule was extremely aggressive, which included data conversions for multiple areas.
Union Hospital explored several options and chose to utilize CharlesRiver Advisors to assist with the data conversions. The timely and accurate data conversion was a critical success factor in the successful Meditech implementation.
CharlesRiver Advisors expertise with all types of system conversions and archives, advanced tool sets. Their knowledge of data conversions was unparalleled. Their staff was always available, met all timelines, and went beyond our expectations on this project. We made the right selection with CharlesRiver Advisors and have contracted additional projects beyond the Phase I project. We are extremely satisfied with our relationship with CharlesRiver Advisors."
– Dave Baumgardner, Director, Information Systems
Union Hospital
330-365-3830
"Genuine involvement, caring, and commitment"
"Schoolcraft Memorial Hospital (SMH) contracted with CharlesRiver Advisors, LLC for an I.S. assessment, HIS vendor selection, and vendor contract negotiation services. CharlesRiver Advisors worked with SMH.
Their genuine involvement, caring, and commitment to SMH was refreshing and greatly exceeded my expectations and their contractual obligations. CharlesRiver caring and commitment was demonstrated by their continuous availablity, response time to questions, and continual follow-up on processes, even after they had completed their engagement.
The company provided the knowledge, experience and negotiaion skills which proved to be invaluable during the negotiation process. SMHs informed and indepth vendor selection process, which led to a viable purchase of an entire HIS system, is greatly attributed to CharlesRiver Advisors commitment and expertise."
– Tanya Edwards, Chief Financial Officer
Schoolcraft Memorial Hospital
906-341-3200
"We balanced to the penny"
"I under-estimated the amount of effort it took to do the data converson and archive portion of the project, but was well aware of the importance of getting it right the first time.
With their help it was still an enormous amount of effort to get the data converted, without their help it would have been impossible. Their expertise with our new system, advanced tools and knowledge of converting data from disparate systems into the new system format was superior. The most crucial conversion was the detail billing information. With over $35 million outstanding balances, we balanced to the penny (with the help of CharlesRiver Advisors).
Later during our first month end on the new system, our vendor told us to expect to be out of balance. Again we balanced to the penny! I’m proud to say we met all of our timelines and had an extremely successful go live. Thanks CharlesRiver Advisors for helping us meet our goal."
– Dolphe Voelker, Director, Information services
Goshen General Hospital
574 535-2657
"Their knowledge has paid for their services many times over"
"When my hospital decided to use a consultant for our HIS selection/negotiation process, I was very adamant that we find a consulting group that was knowledgeable with hospital systems, that would do all the legwork throughout the process and keep us moving forward, but not in any way attempt to steer us toward a particular product.
Without hesitation, we selected the right partner in CharlesRiver Advisors. Their knowledge and expertise in hardware, software and in contract negotiation has paid for thier services many times over. Our process worked flawlessly and in the end a vendor was selected unanimously by a 45 member committee. This could not have happened without CharlesRiver Advisors."
– Danny Huckvale, Chief Financial Officer
William Newton Memorial Hospital
620-221-2300
"The contract dollar savings alone more than covered their fees"
"CharlesRiver Advisors assistance with vendor selection and contract negotiations was invaluable. The entire process was completed in 90 days. By the time we selected our vendor of choice, CharlesRiver Advisors had already completed 80%-90% of the negotiation process. Basically, all we had to do was decide which applications we wanted to implement and which ones we wanted price protected.
The contract dollar savings alone more than covered their fees. We were very pleased with their professionalism and, without a doubt, would utilize their services again."
– Ron Rusk, Chief Financial Officer
Pulaski Memorial Hospital
219-946-6131
"A huge factor to the success of our go-live"
"CharlesRiver Advisors assisted our hospital in the selection, contract negotiaions, and implementation phases. Originally, we had started the selection process on our own and had viewed demonstrations from several vendors. As a small rural hospital with limited funds, it was essential that we select the system that would best meet our needs in the future. Thus, we contracted with CharlesRiver Advisors to aid us in the process.
Their knowledge and expertise in hospital information systems is valuable. They not only assisted us in selecting a vendor but negotiated with the vendor for contract language that was advantageous to our hospital.They also provided software that allowed us to transfer the information from our legacy system to our new information system without a lot of manual work. This was a huge savings of manpower. I feel the services they provided during the implementation phase were a huge contributing factor to the success of our go-live. I would definitely utilize their services again."
– Sue Eckenfels, Chief Financial Officer
Ste. Genevieve County Memorial Hospital
573-883-2751
"CharlesRiver Advisors negotiated better pricing"
"CharlesRiver Advisors, LLC, helped us negotiate a couple of computer hardware and software contracts over the past few months and were very pleased with their services. The largest contract involved a $2 million purchase of a new financial system. The proposed contract from the vendor was very complicated and contained "high tech" language that the average reader, like myself, did not understand.
CharlesRiver Advisors was able to go through this contract in great detail to insure that our Hospital had optimal legal and operational protections. CharlesRiver Advisors was able to negotiate terms that we never would have dreamed, including better pricing and maintenance contract coverage. I can highly recommend CharlesRiver Advisors and plan to use them again as the need arises."
– Jerry Feyh, VP Finance
Marion General Hospital
740-383-8400
"They saved us hundreds of thousands of dollars"
"When our hospital was contemplating the purchase of a replacement computer system we knew we needed help to navigate through the process. CharlesRiver was selected and came through with flying colors.
Their help in negotiating with the vendors and helping us through the entire acquisition process saved us hundreds of thousands of dollars. They included protections for the hospital in the contract that we never thought of. The acquisition would not have gone as well as it did without their help."
– Drew Pallas, Chief Financial Officer
New Island Hospital
516-520-2250
"The final contract price provided a significant ROI"
"CharlesRiver Advisors assisted us with contract negotiations between our two final vendors. Their expertise in negotiating the contract terms was immeasurable. We not only saved time and money but received contract protections that we could never have negotiated on our own.
Their knowledge of the vendors provided the extra edge in the negotiating process. Our legal counsel, upon review of the final draft agreement, was impressed with the contract language and protections. We were also very pleased with the final contract price which provided a significant ROI. It was a pleasure working with them and I would highly recommend their services."
– John Andursky, Chief Financial Officer
Highlands Hospital
724-628-1500
"We were very happy with all of their services"
"CharlesRiver Advisors assisted us with strategic planning, vendor selection, contract negotiations and data conversions with great success. With regards to contract negotiations, they handled all the typical contract issues and saved us valuable time and effort in the process. They pushed for various protections on our behalf, some of which we would not have thought of.
By the time we had to be more directly involved, 80% of the work was done. All we had to do was to decide on which software modules we wanted to purchase up front or price protect for the future, and then work out a general implementation timeline with the vendor. We were very happy with all of their services and would definitely use them again."
– Paul Johnson, Chief Information Officer
Adirondack Medical Center
518-891-4141
"You can count on the knowledge and guidance of CharlesRiver Advisors"
"When choosing a healthcare information system (HIS), there are several key components to include ensuring an appropriate strategic decision is made. One component was the assistance of CharlesRiver Advisors.
Their expertise in product review, facilities review and contract negotiations were critical to making the suitable HIS choice. A decision of this magnitude warrants expertise in the field, and this is where you can count on the knowledge and guidance of CharlesRiver Advisors."
– Julie Byrd, Director, I.S.
Memorial Hospital
806-725-1011
"Their experience was invaluable"
"CharlesRiver Advisors provided critical technical expertise that assisted us in avoiding omissions that would have been extraordinarily expensive to deal with during implementation. Their experience in negotiating a legal document with a health-tech company was invaluable."
– Roger Dix, Chief Financial Officer
Hannibal Hospital
573-248-5254
"Without CharlesRiver we would not have been able to meet our schedule"
"CharlesRiver Advisors assisted Portage Health System with Data Conversion. Their knowledge was superb and extraordinary effort are what made the project of converting to Meditech a success. Without CharlesRiver Advisors Portage would not have been able to meet the schedule established. Extremely pleased with the organization."
– Steve Franken, Director I.T.
Portage Health System
906-483-1994
"All our data conversions were on-time with 100% accuracy"
"When migrating from one healthcare information system (HIS) to another, a critical success factor is moving the existing data to the new system. Often, this is a daunting task because of the disparate file structures on the old system versus the new.
CharlesRiver Advisors met this challenge head on, with a deliberate, well documented plan. All of our data conversions were on-time and with 100% accuracy. Their commitment to excellence and dedication to customer satisfaction are outstanding."
– Bill McClelland, Director, Information Services
Montrose Medical Center
(970) 240-7787
"Their time and talents were an exceptional value"
"With all the stress of a whole Hospital Information System conversion, the part that went the best for us was the actual data conversion that CharlesRiver Advisors did for us.
CharlesRiver Advisors was able to perform some advanced operations such as identification of duplicate records on key fields,change field length & formats,and manipulate entire records to make it work with our new information system.
We were working with some very large files, including 1.7 million patient records. CharlesRiver Advisors time and talents were an exceptional value for us. I highly recommend their services to anyone who needs to move data between disparate systems."
– Al Pedersen, Chief Information Officer
Lakeview Medical Center
715-234-1515
