Background
Our client is a large health system with facilities located in the Northeast. A subsidiary to one of the largest integrated health care delivery and financing institutions in the US, this Pennsylvania-based network includes academic hospitals, primary and specialty care offices, and more. After using a credentialing and enrollment platform that was incapable of keeping up with the scale of the organization, they decided to undergo a full-scale search for a new software partner.
Problem Summary
This health system had been using one of Acorn’s competitors and was experiencing severe pains with credentialing and enrolling providers. Fragmented systems that did not communicate with each other compounded with insufficient tools for multi-facility privileging, leading to practitioners having to complete duplicate documentation on a regular basis. These issues, along with the arduous workflow for gathering provider documentation, resulted in an enrollment process that was far too long. On the Medical Staff side, they were struggling with software that was difficult to use. Reporting was mostly being handled outside of the platform, and the modular system meant that functionality was separated into different components that barely operated together. Communication from the vendor was sparse, meaning that issue resolutions and “upgrades” took longer than they should have.
The Search
Of all the vendors this health system evaluated during the process, Acorn was chosen as the only one that could meet all the requirements.
In response to all these issues, the health system initiated a carefully designed search and selection process to ensure they would find a credentialing and enrollment partner that would fully meet their needs. The process began with a written response to many specific technical and functional requirements. From the 6 competitors that responded, 3 ended up moving on to the demo phase. The health system’s evaluation team sat on 6-8 hours of demos for each vendor and scored them based on how well they met the requirements they had responded to. Of all the vendors this health system evaluated during the process, Acorn was chosen as the only one that could meet all the requirements.
Why Acorn
Our client ultimately selected Acorn because the written response, demos, and discussions indicated that the platform could resolve their credentialing and enrollment woes. The Mobile Capture feature native to Acorn that allows for easier documentation gathering, the ability to scale privileging forms to a multi-facility organization, and the powerful dashboard and reporting features were just some of the features that offered clear value to the health system’s evaluation committee. Throughout the demos, the committee was impressed with Acorn’s ease of use and the way it was developed as a linear system.
In addition to the system itself, the evaluators appreciated Acorn’s responsiveness and willingness to adapt to the health system’s selection process. While a competing finalist never responded to certain inquiries, Acorn’s representatives were easy to communicate with. Our client was looking for a partnership, not just another vendor, and the selection process convinced them that Acorn would be the right fit.
