Deal!

Client: Darin M. Camarena Health Centers, Madera, Calif.

Selection Leaders: Kenneth E. Bernstein, M.D., chief medical officer; Selina Montoya, operations/financial officer; Gary Rutherford, chief information officer; Leonor Seiler, systems development specialist.

Issue Addressed: Replace paper charts and build disease-management capabilities at the community health provider’s three clinics.

Vendor: InteGreat Inc., Scottsdale, Ariz.

Software: IC-Chart (electronic health record system).

Contract Signed: December 2005.

Terms: Declined to state exact amount.

Duration of Agreement: 7 years.

Deployment: Beginning July 2006.

Evaluation Period: 18 months.

Vendors Considered: 12.

Top Finalists: Allscripts, Practice Partners and InteGreat.

Number on Selection Team: Five, facilitated by a consultant beginning with the request for proposal stage.

Evaluation Tools: Web demos, site visits and on-site demos.

Desperately Seeking Stability: Did financial background checks on leading contenders.

Measuring Stick: Checklist of 120 items in technical, clinical, operational and administrative areas, each weighted on three-point scale.

Testing Tool: Vendors were given scenarios with mock patients to demonstrate their systems, such as documenting care for a diabetic patient.

Why InteGreat Won: Proactive disease-management tools that enable patient tracking by diagnosis, ease of use and price. System includes lab, prescriptions and order entry. Other vendors cost “twice as much” and wanted larger down payments, says Rutherford.

Vendor Disqualifiers: Cost, pricing structure and inadequate electronic prescribing functions.

—Gary Baldwin