Deal!

An inside look at an IT contract.

Client: New York City Department of Health (on behalf of 1,400 primary-care physicians serving Medicaid and uninsured patients).
Services: Electronic medical record, practice management software.
Winning Vendor: eClinicalWorks.
Terms: $19.8 million, four-year renewable contract.
Selection Team: Six-person group led by Farzad Mostashari, MD, assistant New York City health commissioner.
Big Net: Requests for proposals sent to more than 100 software vendors; 17 responded.
Evaluation Tools: Self-reported scorecard based on CCHIT criteria; live demos, based on standard clinical scenarios.
Eliminated Early: Large inpatient systems vendors. "Inpatient care is episodic, while outpatient is longitudinal," says Mostashari.
Envelope Please: eClinicalWorks' flexible architecture, security features, and implementation track record and willingness to develop public health features, such as registry interfaces and disease reporting, made it the "clear winner."
Deployment: Began last fall.

-Gary Baldwin

Got a good IT contract story? E-mail it to: gbaldwin@healthleadersmedia.com.