“For a few weeks, or maybe a few months, you’ve been racked by doubt about your feelings and your future together. If you keep quiet, you’re probably going to be left unsatisfied. So bring the subject up but choose your words carefully in order to start up a constructive discussion and not a war of words.”
The paragraph above is from an article on the role of communication in relationships from UK-based women’s site So Feminine. But say you’re considering switching your practice management system because you’ve lost trust in your vendor. Suddenly, the same paragraph doesn’t seem as fluffy anymore.
A strained relationship with your vendor leaves you with few options, and it can be even more confusing if you’re actually a fan of the product. Therefore, we’ve developed tips to help you two talk it out. We’ll give you some alone time afterwards.
Talk It Out
It’s obvious that miscommunication is the source of a number of problems between you and your vendor. Health IT related issues are complex enough, so it’s essential to make the interaction between both parties as smooth as possible. Keep emails brief, phone calls scheduled and face-to-face time structured.
In an article for Physician’s Practice last year, health IT consultant Bruce Kleaveland recommends practices “channel issues to a single person who then can communicate it with the vendor so that the vendor isn’t getting 15 calls, from 15 different people, with 15 different issues, expressed in 15 different ways.”
Likewise, you should ensure the vendor has singled out a point person on its end, preferably an experienced account manager with experience in your specialty. This kind of one-to-one communication will ensure a smoother implementation process and continued troubleshooting.
Negotiate Openly
If they’re not handled properly, contracts could turn into the Chinese finger traps of childhood gag toy lore – both sides are caught until they can calm down long enough to free themselves.
Contracts can be a blueprint for successful communication, and should therefore be taken rather seriously. In a KevinMD article on the subject, MGMA Consultant Rosemarie Nelson advises to “include the specifics [of the sales process] and include the specifics in a contract addendum to establish equal understanding and the importance of each of those items.”
Follow a Schedule
If communication is the foundation of a good relationship, consider time management your building’s bricks and mortar. And as the amount of bricks and mortar needed increases for the floors near the foundation as a building gets higher, creating a flexible schedule that is open to modification is of the essence when dealing with your vendor.
Collaborate on an implementation project plan with your vendor, and ensure that any future changes, anticipated or not, are documented. This allows you to go back and identify the sources of any potential conflicts.
Furthermore, fleshing out a timeline with your vendor will help set realistic expectations, which is particularly useful if you’re not an IT wizard. And most health IT vendors can be educators in this sense. They know that providing you with valuable information means they become a long-term resource for your practice, which could in turn mean benefits in future sales on their side.
And of course, while a vendor may wine and dine you (you’re not the type to accept any more gifts than basic hospitality, of course), healthcare is still a business, and managing your ever-changing relationship with your vendor means you need a game plan.
