The Healthcare Challenge

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and Health Information for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) are spurring the adoption – and purchase – of Electronic Health Record (EHR) applications and infrastructure.  In order to qualify for incentives and avoid serious penalties, provider organizations are wrestling to interpret “meaningful use” and other jargon edicts from CMS (Center for Medicare and Medicaid) and the National Coordinator.

Healthcare providers are faced with an overwhelming array of purchasing decisions. The HITECH and ARRA statutes are actually forcing many healthcare organizations to advance acquisition timelines. The result is increased risk and shorter evaluation periods which often results in over-paying for products and services.

The objective of leveraging technology (i.e. electronic healthcare records) to achieve patient safety through and reducing costs is important and laudable. However, selecting the right vendor and solution is challenging both technically and financially.

The fact is that many healthcare organizations will make decision to implement a HIE or EHR and not know for sure whether they will meet the requirements for “meaningful use”.  The procurement risk is not just the initial price tag, implementation cost, or cost of ongoing support.  The cost may actually be lost in incentives or paid in penalties over the coming years. 		  
Analysts claim that US hospitals will spend $120 billion – or close to $100,000 per bed – on hardware, software, implementation services and training. The anticipated financial incentives to be paid by CMS will actually offset these purchases by only 15% to 20% of the total expenditures. According to a recent McKinsey & Company healthcare report, the gap between incentives will amount to approximately $60,000 to $80,000 per bed. The report states "with cost already rising by approximately 10% annually – and outpacing revenues – these investments will place new financial burdens on hospitals".

sourcecycle has deep domain expertise in healthcare.  Our team not only mitigates risk associated with the price you pay, but we also advise on the vendor’s viability and ability to deliver.

sourcecycle Healthcare IT Advisory Services:

Vendor Pricing Analytics – comparing the price you are receiving with the price paid by peer companies, vendor pricing models, discount structures and sourcecycle proprietary metrics.
Vendor Process Insight – sourcecycle possesses domain expertise in vendor sales strategies, pricing, and discounting structures. sourcecycle's executives have first-hand experience as sales and sourcing executives so we can open-up the "Vendor Playbook".
Direct Vendor Negotiations - sourcecycle utilizes proven negotiation methodology and best practices. The power of a 3rd party negotiator inserted into the purchase process at the right time is extremely effective.
Client Negotiation Coaching – we assist your team in negotiations with vendors utilizing sourcecycle's information and insights.

Products and Solutions

• Clinical & Financial Systems
• Health Information Management (HIM)
• Enterprise Master Person Index (EMPI)
• Revenue Cycle Management
• Registration & Scheduling
• Physician & Patient Portals
• Electronic Medical Records (EMR)

Top Vendors

• Cerner
• Epic    
• IBM     
• Meditech
• Siemens
• QuadraMed

•    Microsoft
•    GE Healthcare
•    McKesson
•    Initiate
•    Sun SeeBeyond
•    Oracle