Understand the Client’s Specific Needs Over Offering Generic Solutions: Successful partnerships are formed when vendors focus on understanding the specific problem the healthcare system needs to solve. Rather than pitching a pre-existing solution, it’s more effective to identify the goal (e.g., patient engagement, efficiency improvements) and tailor approaches accordingly.  

• TK’s Take: “It’s like they did their homework and actually that is a problem I am having, or at least that’s the problem I perceive that I’m having…versus, ‘Hey, tell me some problems you have.’ I was like, ‘Wait a minute…I got problems all day long and you can’t solve all of them. You have got to come in with some intent.” 

Be Knowledgeable About the Client’s Existing Systems: Familiarity with the healthcare organization’s technology, from their EHR to their challenges with their EHRs, can expedite solution integration and maximize its usability within the current infrastructure. Bringing expertise in these systems builds credibility and trust, helping align solutions more effectively with operational needs. 

• TK’s Take: “Some of the most productive conversations I have had, they came in and they understood Epic and they understood what Epic can and can’t do right now…Using your thoughts and your techniques inside of existing platforms…that’s really valuable to me.” 

Avoid Overusing Buzzwords Like “AI” Without Depth: With AI’s popularity, there’s a tendency to overuse the term without a clear understanding or appropriate context. When pitching AI-based solutions, be specific about how AI will be used—whether predictive, generative, or language processing—to show a deeper understanding of its real-world application. 

• TK’s Take: “Kapoor’s Inverse Law of AI is that the number of times that AI is mentioned in a sales pitch is usually inversely proportional to their understanding of AI. Just don’t throw that word around without really understanding what it means or what degree of AI you’re talking about.” 

Position Solutions to Address Workforce and Volume Challenges: Given the aging population’s increasing demand on healthcare services and workforce shortages, solutions that alleviate staff burdens, improve operational efficiency, or enhance care delivery at scale will resonate strongly with healthcare organizations. 

• TK’s Take: “We have a higher [patient] volume coming through, we have a smaller volume of working people behind us, and a [growing] volume of knowledge growth. All of this means that health systems cannot figure this out by themselves. We will need people to work with, but we’re going to need people who are not just selling widgets, but people who will have a solution here.” 

Differentiate Between Vendor and Partnership Roles: Recognize when a transactional vendor relationship is sufficient and when a collaborative partnership is necessary. In partnerships, vendors should be willing to adapt and evolve solutions, working closely with the healthcare team to develop innovative, longer-term strategies rather than simply selling a product. 

• TK’s Take: “Not everyone can, or should, be a partner, because a partnership requires mutual back and forth…. Sometimes a really good transactional relationship can eventually develop into a developmental partnership. But, a true developmental partnership means that our outcome is about creating a newer solution together.” 

Updates from HLTH (Fierce Healthcare) 

How the upcoming US election could affect healthcare policies (STAT) 

Hospitals remain among the most violent places to work in the US (Axios) 

Humana sues CMS over falling star ratings (Fierce Healthcare) 

Zoom steps into the AI healthcare documentation space (Healthcare Dive) 

Bariatric surgery volumes take a hit in the era of GLP-1s (JAMA Network) – but the story isn’t so simple (Axios)