How to Evaluate Health Tech Vendors

I’ve seen brilliant longevity businesses get absolutely destroyed by one thing. It's not their clinical protocols or their patient care. It's their technology choices. The market is deafeningly loud. Every vendor promises a revolution, but a great sales pitch doesn't guarantee a great product. And yet, countless hours and dollars are wasted chasing a "perfect" system, only to end up with digital handcuffs, frustrated staff, and compromised workflows. After years in the trenches—working with some of the top companies in the space and building one myself- I decided we needed a better playbook. A system to cut through the noise and evaluate partners based on what actually matters. So, I built one. I call it the CLINIC Framework. It’s a disciplined method to de-risk one of the most critical decisions any practice will make. It’s the scouting report I wish I’d had from day one, focusing on six fundamental areas: 🛡️ C-ompliance & Security: The non-negotiable foundation. HIPAA, SOC 2, and AI risk controls. 🔗 L-inkages & Interoperability: Can it play well with others? No data silos or vendor lock-in. 📈 I-mpact & Evidence: Does it move the needle on clinical or operational outcomes? Show me the data. 💰 N-et Economics: The true Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), not just the sticker price. ⏳ I-mplementation Burden: How much pain and time until it’s actually creating value? 🤝 C-ontinuity & Support: Are you getting a long-term partner or a future headache? The goal isn't to find a mythical, perfect piece of software. It’s about making a clear-eyed, confident decision that frees you up to focus on the work that truly matters: your patients. To help you get started, I’ve distilled the core concepts into a one-page CLINIC Framework Scorecard. It's the simple checklist I use for a quick, first-pass evaluation of any new vendor. Want a free copy? Comment SCORECARD below, and I'll send it your way.

🔍 Selecting an AI Medical Scribe Here’s What Matters Most from a CMIO's Perspective When it comes to choosing an AI medical scribe, several critical factors can make or break the impact on clinical workflows, patient and provider experience, and ultimate adoption by end users. 💡 Here’s a summary of my top considerations for anyone exploring these solutions, drawn from my personal experience with evaluating, selecting, implementing, and deploying this technology at scale: ✅ Bedrock Criteria 1️⃣ Accuracy & Clinical Understanding High transcription accuracy, especially in complex clinical language, is non-negotiable. “A scribe’s ability to grasp medical nuances directly affects patient care. How can we validate this level of precision?” 2️⃣ Data Security & Compliance “Patient privacy is paramount. What safeguards ensure HIPAA compliance and data confidentiality?” ✅ Additional Key Criteria 1️⃣ Usability & Personalization (IMO the MOST important factor!) An intuitive interface should require minimal training and allow customization for different user needs and specialties. “How much training is required?” and “Can it adapt to specific documentation styles, enhancing both efficiency and adoption?” 2️⃣ Integration Capabilities “Does it integrate smoothly with our current EHR workflows?” Compatibility is essential for workflow efficiency, so discuss the ease of integration with various healthcare platforms and unique workflows in your environment. 3️⃣ Cost & ROI Short term: How much does this cost per user. Long term: Look beyond initial costs to understand the long-term ROI. “Does this investment reduce physician administrative burden, lower burnout rates, support improved employee engagement, and ultimately support staff retention using these tools?” 4️⃣ Vendor Support & Optimization “Is the vendor responsive and equipped with a robust training and support model?” Continuous support is crucial for sustained adoption and success. 5️⃣ Future Roadmap/Vision Understanding the vendor’s roadmap helps ensure the platform is adaptable to evolving clinical needs. “Where is the vendor headed, and how will their AI scribe continue to innovate in the long run?” 💬 Did I miss anything critical? What other criteria should be used when selecting healthcare AI Scribe solutions? Share 👇 your additional ideas, critiques, or alternate perspectives.

How do I recommend you evaluate a potential technology provider? Over the years, I've focused on six key dimensions when completing my due diligence of any tech provider: 1. Requirements vs. Vendor Capabilities - I typically recommend a customized RFP based on customer / user requirements, followed by some limited scope POC. If the vendor is unwilling to support a POC, then I recommend disqualifying them. - Engagement with end users during RFP process is critical, which includes involving them in some form of vendor scoring exercise. - Ensure you also engage all the necessary IT stakeholders from an architecture and security perspective as engaging them too late could throw a big wrench into your process. - Criticality of this dimension: 30% of total vendor score 2. Business Value and Pricing/License Options - Will the vendor help you build a business case to justify a spend? If not, this is a huge red flag. - Ensure your financial evaluation method aligns to your CFO's preferred method (TCO vs. ROI vs. NPV vs. IRR, etc.) - License restrictions, exit options, pricing levers - Is the vendor pricing roughly aligned to how others price? - Does the pricing / licensing model support flexibility for future growth? - Criticality of this dimension: 25% of total vendor score 3. Roadmap & Strategic Alignment - Does the vendor have a well-articulated roadmap, and does it align to how you see your requirements evolving in the future? - Does the vendor roadmap align to where you see the market heading? - Does the vendor solution, and their roadmap align to your long-term data and IT strategies? - Criticality of this dimension: 10% of total vendor score 4. Market Feedback - customer testimonials and references - analyst reviews - peer insights, reviews, social media - Criticality of this dimension: 15% of total vendor score 5. Ongoing Support - what is the vendor support model? - do you have an assigned customer success manager? - how dedicated is the vendor to your success? - Criticality of this dimension: 10% of total vendor score 5. The overall vendor 'vibe' - difficult to quantify and beware of biases, but also listen to your gut - does your experience with the vendor feel like a partnership, or a transaction? - how important is your success to the vendor? - Criticality of this dimension: 10% of total vendor score What have I missed? What else would you add? #cdo #chiefdataofficer #rfp