4 Considerations for Hospitals Evaluating ERP Consulting Firms
As the EHR implementation wave begins to crest, hospitals and health systems are again turning their attention and resources to ERP projects, says Healthcare IT Leaders Principal, Brad Elster. "Many of our clients have been through the EHR implementation cycle, and are now looking to optimize their back office."
ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solutions cover a broad array of critical business processes that can help hospitals increase efficiency and manage costs. Common ERP modules include customer relationship management (CRM), human capital management (HCM), workforce management (WFM) supply chain management (SCM), finance and accounting (FI), enterprise asset management (EAM), and other related business systems.
Hospital mergers are a catalyst for new ERP activity as health systems look to consolidate their business solutions and replace legacy products. New version upgrades and transitions from on premise to cloud-based ERP solutions are also key drivers.
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Healthcare IT Leaders offers ERP consulting resources for the most widely-used enterprise solutions and has specialized expertise implementing both clinical and business systems for hospitals.
When evaluating a new ERP initiative and the requisite consulting resources needed for project success, we believe health systems should consider the following:
Industry Experience
Healthcare has unique workflows and requirements. While many consulting firms offer general ERP resources, Healthcare IT Leaders offers a depth of industry knowledge based on years of hospital-specific implementation and upgrade projects. Any consulting firm should be able to provide reference clients that are both industry and solutions specific.
KLAS-Rating
KLAS offers unbiased, independent ratings of consulting services firms and their capabilities. Firms that are fully KLAS-rated have verified references from multiple healthcare customers. Healthcare IT Leaders was the first HIT services firm fully rated by KLAS for Business Solutions (ERP) and HIT Implementation Services (EHR), and is the 2020 Category Leader in Business Solutions.
Large Project Experience
Large-scale ERP initiatives typically require multiple types of consulting resources with functional and technical skillsets, as well as experienced project leads and managers. Healthcare IT Leaders draws on a deep database of consulting resources that can be deployed simultaneously across multiple sites and that have experience in the most current versions of common industry solutions.
ERP Vendor Knowledge
Some firms offer expertise in a single vendor solution. Healthcare IT Leaders prefers to provide knowledge and resources supporting multiple solutions, including Infor Cloud and Infor Lawson, Oracle Cloud and PeopleSoft, SAP and SuccessFactors, Salesforce CRM, UKG/Kronos, Workday, and more. We know of very few health systems that can rely on a single software vendor across the enterprise, so our firm strives to offer breadth and depth to support a variety of ERP project scenarios.
