When considering to buy or build, health systems tend to find DIY virtual care and homegrown applications tempting. Tired of being at the mercy of third party “roadmaps”that never quite seem to materialize, most are looking for a way to get control back. With initial costs that are considerably less for homegrown applications than what they would be for a third party over a number of years, it’s easy to understand why.
The reality for most, however, is that the unexpected costs associated with building, maintaining and supporting a product are significantly higher than licensing from a third party that has a field proven solution. Not to mention the infrastructure in place to manage and support it as their core competency. Lengthy implementations make it difficult to find technology partners who can address unique needs long term, without purchasing a mix of solutions to cover all bases, and stepping too far outside budget. The number of development resources required to deliver on the basics, leave little time to address the innovative capabilities that drew the organization toward the build option to begin with.
What we’ve heard from your peers..
When we asked those who have taken the build approach, “Was it worth it,” here’s a few of the answers we heard:
- Scaling homegrown applications is nearly impossible without adding resources and the on-going maintenance and support is wickedly expensive
- Acquiring and retaining of quality development talent is a significant challenge for a health system that can’t afford to pay tech industry prices
- Despite having full control of the resources, there simply aren’t enough resources to satisfy the demands of their growing program in a timely fashion
If you’re considering dusting off the old tool box, here’s a few things you should check off your list first:
- Identify all of the resources you’ll need to build AND maintain your virtual care program
- Create a mock timeline that outlines how long it will take to build, test, and implement your new solution (then multiply by 2)
- Review your list of priorities and see how your development project might compete with your other program goals for the year
Partnering for Success: When Doing It Yourself is Not An Option
If you decide, as many others have, that it makes more sense to partner than to build, then its time to find partners who can meet you where you are. Learn how you can get exactly what your program needs for a reasonable and predictable price without the hassle of managing and maintaining software yourself, Our team at ViTel Net is prepared to partner with you for success. Learn how we..
- Created a patented “no-code” configurable system that allows us to design, deploy, and run sophisticated custom applications in no time and leverages field proven software that has been developed continuously enhanced over the past 30 years
- Deliver guidance and advice from industry leading clinical veterans with health IT expertise to help our partners launch programs that best fit their brand of in person care – virtually
- Offer ongoing flexibility so you can add capability to your environment when you need to without empty promises of future roadmap deliverables
- Relieve our partners of the hassle of technical support with a 24/7 multi-tiered helpdesk
- Enable single platform to platform integration to your EHR
- Leverage modular based roadmap to add pre-integrated features, functions and new servicelines
- Provide cost transparency so you can budget with confidence
