In either your own or selection or during the latter stages of the SMART Selection process, we negotiate contracts simultaneously with up to two finalist vendors. We develop detailed, “apples-to-apples” 5-year cost comparisons that include all operating and one time costs with estimated annual price increases. We compare price and language against our national database of all previously negotiated agreements. Knowledge is the key to successful negotiation.
While we cover a broad milieu of contractual issues, several themes will be key to evaluating vendor responses and, eventually, to selecting the vendor-of-choice:
- Sharing of risk based on performance
- Support standards and longevity
- Commitment to timely regulatory compliance
- Payments tied to successful delivery milestones
- 60-day contingency period
- Well-planned and staffed implementation project
- Flexibility for the hospital to grow
- Price protection
If we are part of your selection process we also work with the departments to develop application functionality “Hit Lists”. These lists encompass the 10-15 most important system functions items for each department. Users validate these lists during the demo, telephone reference and site visit steps of the SMART Selection Process. Vendor responses to these lists are included in the hospital’s contract with the vendor.
