Protecting your healthcare organization against careless and poorly implemented technology updates is a big responsibility. A misstep like choosing to augment health technology teams with an unqualified consultancy can cost time and drain the budget. Keep your organization safe and ensure that a new healthcare IT consultant fits the bill by knowing what to avoid when hiring a technology partner.
1. Looking at the Wrong Specialty
These days, healthcare consultancies will often specialize in various areas, including legacy systems, product innovation, and marketing. It’s possible to approach a consultancy that doesn’t have exactly the skill set that your team needs.
Depending on the scope of your project, your organization may require a generalist firm. These consultancies can work with healthcare organizations for almost any need, from migrating legacy systems to building a new healthcare product for patients to use.
If you are in the market for help with software development, the team at OtterSoft has the flexibility and expertise needed to handle a wide variety of projects. With their years in the industry and expansive knowledge, they can increase efficiency and bring cost savings to healthcare product development.
2. Lacking Due Diligence
Whenever you bring a consultant into a project, you’ll need to complete a thorough background check. This includes asking about certifications and licensing related to the field that you are interested in. The consultancy should also have a list of referrals—previous clients they’ve worked with—available for those who request it. You can also check out organizations online via their websites or review sites like Google Business, Indeed, and LinkedIn.
Once you’ve found the team with the right skill set and business reputation, you’ll feel much more confident in the outcome of your project. Knowing more about the background and experience of a healthcare technology partner also helps you determine if they can take on additional work in other IT projects.
3. Not Clarifying Your Expectations
As the saying goes, “get it in writing.” Your organization should clearly define your expectations when you augment health technology programs with an outside partner. Create a contract with each of the contractor’s duties outlined. Make sure the consultancy knows each of these expectations and what they mean to your healthcare organization.
Establishing those expectations with an IT consultant beforehand ensures that you are both on the same page regarding project goals and outcomes. If an issue arises during the project, you and your partner can refer to the contract for clarification, saving your organization a great deal of time negotiating minor concerns in the middle of a busy project!
4. Not Investing in a Custom Software Application
It’s not uncommon for a manager with a tight budget to be tempted by technology partners offering pre-existing software. But these off-the-shelf products are difficult to customize to suit your business and healthcare needs. They also tend to come with pricey annual licensing fees.
A software development partner can custom-build products that cover your healthcare organization's needs. Best of all, you won’t have to worry about extra fees or changes in licensing in the future, as your company will own the license to your custom software.
5. Having the Wrong Size Consulting Firm
Remember, a healthcare technology partner should be able to augment your team with ease. If you have a big project or need to staff a large IT department, the consultancy needs enough human resources for the job. Ask ahead of time if they have enough people available to work on your project. Organizations don’t have a one-size-fits-all IT staff ratio to employees, but the current practices seem to be anywhere from 1:70 to 1:100 IT staff per employee.
When you partner with a healthcare tech consultancy capable of staffing your IT department, you’ll find that projects are completed much faster and with fewer delays. These experts should be able to handle changes in project timelines, such as moving up a due date, without a problem. A properly staffed IT consultancy can also handle simple everyday issues, like employees going on vacation or being out sick, without interrupting workflow.
A Reliable Partner to Help Augment Health Technology
When researching potential healthcare tech solutions partners and using targeted interview questions, you might be surprised at how much information you can acquire. You can easily determine if an IT consultancy has enough staff and the right specialties for your specific project.
You’ll also ensure that your software development partner has a clear understanding of the project expectations. Discussing your organization’s desires and goals ahead of time clears up any confusion later. You’ll also have the protection of a detailed contract with those expectations in writing.
If you are interested in bringing a health tech solutions partner onto your team, know that OtterSoft makes getting a product to market a breeze. It provides responsive service with flexible teams who know how to build custom EHR and EMR software for clients. They can also handle the challenges of finding hardware and managing storage for healthcare organizations of all sizes.
Here at OtterSoft, we help healthcare technology providers drive innovation and integrate smoothly with legacy systems to keep things in motion, address the challenges of healthcare innovation, and seamlessly keep information in sync. Please get in touch with us today to see how we can help you overcome healthcare innovation challenges by strategically augmenting your team!
