Healthcare EHR sales objections, questions and competitors

When they push back.

The objections healthcare EHR buyers raise most, what to say in the next ten seconds, and what not to promise.

"This is too expensive for us."

Compared to what: another option, the budget you have, or the cost of the problem today?

Do not discount before you know what they are comparing to. Do not invent savings figures.

"Switching would be too disruptive for our clinicians."

What went wrong the last time you changed a clinical system?

Never say a clinical go-live is painless. Do not downplay data migration or historical record access.

"Our team built something in-house."

How is it working, and who maintains it when the EHR is upgraded?

Do not dismiss the internal team; they will be in the room for the decision.

"Now is not a good time."

What would need to be true for this to be the right time?

Do not invent urgency. A forced deal in healthcare tends to stall in committee anyway.

"How do you handle HIPAA and PHI?"

Who on your side reviews vendors for security and privacy, and what do they ask for first?

Do not give legal advice about HIPAA. Do not say "HIPAA certified"; there is no such certification. Do not claim compliance you cannot document.

"We already have Epic, and they say they can do this."

Have you seen their version working in your build, and what would it take to turn it on?

Never run down the EHR vendor. Do not claim features the EHR lacks unless you have confirmed it.

Every one of these is a deal that slips a quarter if you fumble it. Ghost puts the answer on your screen while the buyer is still talking.

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When they name a competitor.

Give them credit, then ask whether that vendor's strength matters to this buyer.

Epic

Epic is known for an integrated platform used by many large health systems. Is staying fully in one ecosystem the top priority for you?

Oracle Health

Oracle Health, formerly Cerner, has a long history in hospitals. How settled is your organization on its platform roadmap?

MEDITECH

MEDITECH has served community and mid-size hospitals for a long time. What would you need beyond what Expanse gives you?

athenahealth

athenahealth is known for cloud-based practice management and EHR for ambulatory groups. How much of your need is outside the practice setting?

eClinicalWorks

eClinicalWorks is widely used in ambulatory practices. Which workflows are working well for you today and which are not?

Veradigm

Veradigm, formerly Allscripts, has a large ambulatory and payer data footprint. Where does it sit in your stack today?

NextGen Healthcare

NextGen has a strong following in specialty and ambulatory groups. What would you need that your current setup does not do?

Altera Digital Health

Altera runs the former Allscripts hospital products like Sunrise and Paragon. How are you thinking about the long-term plan for that platform?

ModMed

ModMed is known for specialty-specific EHRs like dermatology and ophthalmology. How specialized are your workflows?

Greenway Health

Greenway serves many independent practices. What matters most to you: cost, support, or a specific workflow?

TruBridge

TruBridge, formerly CPSI, focuses on rural and community hospitals. What would change for you if you added a separate tool?

Questions that qualify the deal.

Ask these on the first call. Then dig into the pain when they say it out loud.

Qualify

Which EHR are you on, is it hosted or on-prem, and what sits around it that people complain about most?
Where does the time go for them today: notes, orders, the in-basket, or after-hours charting?
If this stays the same for another year, what does that cost you in staff, cash or risk?
What is driving the date: a contract end, a merger, a regulatory deadline, or something else?
Besides you, who has to say yes: clinical leadership, IT, security, finance, or a committee?
Is this in the current operating or capital budget, or would it need to go into next year's plan?

Dig into the pain

"We cannot get data out of our EHR." What data do you need, and where does it need to go: analytics, another system, or a partner?
"Our denials keep going up." Where are the denials coming from: eligibility, authorization, coding, or something else?
"We merged and now we run multiple systems." Has leadership decided which platform you consolidate on, or is that still open?
"We are short on IT analysts and cannot take on another project." Who would do the build and interface work for this, and what are they working on now?

Know who is in the room.

An electronic health record (EHR) is the system of record for patient care: charts, orders, results, medications and documentation. Around it sit revenue cycle, scheduling, patient portals, lab and imaging systems, and the interfaces that move data between them. Many hospitals still run parts of this stack on-prem or in a vendor-hosted data center, so this is not a pure SaaS market.

Who buys and who signs

Economic buyer: The CIO for platform decisions, the CFO for anything that touches revenue cycle or a large capital spend. Big EHR decisions often go to the board.
Champion: A director of clinical applications, a physician or nurse informaticist (CMIO, CNIO), or a revenue cycle leader with a specific problem.
Users: Physicians, nurses, coders, billers, front desk staff and the IT analysts who build and maintain the system.
Blockers: The CISO and privacy officer (HIPAA, business associate agreements), integration teams who own the interface engine, procurement and group purchasing contracts, and clinical governance committees that must approve any workflow change.

Signs the deal isn't real

No named clinical sponsor; only IT is in the room.
They cannot say how your tool connects to the EHR or who owns the interface work.
The privacy or security team has not been told about the project.
"We are evaluating" with no trigger event and no budget cycle in view.
The buyer expects the EHR vendor to release a native version soon and is waiting to see.
A merger is pending and nobody knows which EHR survives.

15 words healthcare EHR buyers use

EHR / EMR: The electronic health record; EMR is the older term, often used for practices.
Revenue cycle (rev cycle): Everything from registration to final payment.
Interface engine: Middleware that routes HL7 messages between systems.
HL7: The long-standing messaging standard for clinical data.
FHIR: The newer API standard for exchanging health data.
BAA: Business associate agreement, required under HIPAA when a vendor handles PHI.
PHI: Protected health information.
Go-live: The day a system is turned on for real patients.
Build: Configuring the EHR for local workflows, done by certified analysts.
Downtime procedures: How care continues when the system is down.
In-basket: The clinician's queue of messages, results and tasks.
Denials: Claims a payer refuses to pay.
HIE: Health information exchange, a regional or national data-sharing network.
Information blocking: Practices that restrict data sharing, regulated under the Cures Act.
App orchard / marketplace: The EHR vendor's program for approved third-party apps.

Selling healthcare EHR: questions

What objections come up when selling healthcare IT and EHR?

The most common are: "This is too expensive for us", "Switching would be too disruptive for our clinicians", "Our team built something in-house", "Now is not a good time", "How do you handle HIPAA and PHI?" and "We already have Epic, and they say they can do this". Each one above has a line to say back and what to avoid.

What discovery questions should I ask a healthcare EHR buyer?

Start with: Which EHR are you on, is it hosted or on-prem, and what sits around it that people complain about most? Where does the time go for them today: notes, orders, the in-basket, or after-hours charting? If this stays the same for another year, what does that cost you in staff, cash or risk? What is driving the date: a contract end, a merger, a regulatory deadline, or something else?

Who are the main competitors in healthcare IT and EHR?

Buyers most often compare Epic, Oracle Health, MEDITECH, athenahealth, eClinicalWorks, Veradigm, NextGen Healthcare, Altera Digital Health, ModMed, Greenway Health and TruBridge.

Who buys healthcare IT and EHR?

Economic buyer: the CIO for platform decisions, the CFO for anything that touches revenue cycle or a large capital spend. Big EHR decisions often go to the board.

How does Ghost help on healthcare EHR calls?

Pick the healthcare EHR market pack in Ghost's setup and every card on this page loads into Ghost. When a buyer raises one of these objections or names one of these competitors on a live call, Ghost shows you what to say on your screen, hidden from screen shares and recordings.

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Healthcare IT and EHR: what buyers say on the call, and what to say back.