Avoid the Vendor Upsell

Providers should also ask what is the implementation timeline, what are the milestones that will achieve meaningful use, how many clinical areas will have an EHR by the dates in the stimulus funding timeline, and what will your software enable us to get from an interoperability standpoint. "That is an area of significant concern," says Ceverha.

Tips to Build a Successful Vendor-Provider Partnership
Here are some guidelines that healthcare providers should consider regarding vendor relationships with respect to meaningful use.

1. Have your own inside expert. Don't rely on the vendor to tell you what you should be doing. Healthcare organizations should develop their own strategy and have someone onboard who understands the regulations that are coming. "There are a lot of people out there trying to sell," says Sandra McRee, president and COO of Iasis Healthcare. Make sure it is a partnership and you are working with a vendor that has people with a vision for IT.

2. Establish a specific liaison. Iasis Healthcare not only asked its vendor for one person it could turn to to address any problems, but also had a hand in choosing that individual. Staff turnover can derail an installation, explains McRee. So Iasis and McKesson Corp. interviewed the person together. Iasis decided on the selection, and indicated that it would need that same contact for at least five years. "It has worked very, very well," she says.

3. Specify your contractual objectives. Ensure that the contract is aligned with the clinical and business objectives of the healthcare organization, not the vendor.

4. Involve more people than just the IT staff. A true partnership requires involvement at the senior leadership level. "We really encourage having quarterly meetings with vendor leadership and our leadership," says Ed Lovern, executive vice president and chief administrative officer at Piedmont Healthcare. These meetings may include financial leaders and the health system's CEO, for example. The idea is to update both organizations about what is going on so they can address any problem areas.

It is very important for the vendor to have a seat at the table and to be actively engaged in working through issues, such as how the new technology may impact existing workflow in order to smooth the implementation process as the project moves forward, says Mark Pasquale, vice president of information services and CIO at Piedmont Healthcare.

Iasis also established a governance committee to help build a true partnership. It was composed of executives from both McKesson and Iasis and met quarterly, says Loflin. "Both sides gave an update of where they were heading strategically, so we could see where we can help each other."

—Carrie Vaughan