Go-Live Support 2024
Finding the Right Partner in a High-Performing Market

Optimum Healthcare IT’s Strategic Resource Placement Leads to Highest Client Satisfaction; CSI Healthcare IT’s Customized Approach to Large Projects Seen as Differentiator

Optimum Healthcare IT and CSI Healthcare IT have, respectively, the highest and second-highest client satisfaction among fully rated firms, with clients highlighting their ability to provide consistent results during their go-live engagements. Best in KLAS 2024 winner Optimum Healthcare IT (validated exclusively with Epic projects) is praised by respondents for their strategic placement of personnel in key positions. Respondents—all of whom are highly satisfied or satisfied with the firm—say supplied resources felt fully integrated into the organizations’ teams, displayed strong Epic expertise, and were able to effectively address challenges. When clients reported any problems with consultants, Optimum quickly swapped resources without hindering progress. CSI Healthcare IT is validated with the most large projects (>250 resources), working on Epic and Oracle Health go-lives. Interviewed clients report feeling a strong partnership with and boosted confidence in the firm due to their meticulous methodology that is customized to the client organization. While respondents feel the expense was relatively high, many decided to work with the firm again after prior positive experiences and were able to realize value through the firm’s strong logistics and ability to easily manage unexpected issues. Executive engagement is highlighted, with multiple respondents describing their account managers as phenomenal.

“Optimum Healthcare IT had really great consultants. The difference between consulting firms is always the people. Almost everyone that I got from Optimum Healthcare IT was phenomenal. They worked together well. They were really good and professional. The few people who didn’t work out well for me from Optimum Healthcare IT were replaced very quickly with excellent people. Optimum Healthcare IT was very proactive when things weren’t working well.” —Director

“I have been working with one of CSI Healthcare IT’s leaders, and that person has been phenomenal and very responsive in terms of understanding our gaps, our needs, and where we have needed their help. [The firm is] very strong in terms of being partners with us and having the best kind of at-the-elbow support. I can’t say enough about CSI Healthcare IT’s executive team. I don’t know that we had the right person initially, and we shared that feedback, and CSI Healthcare IT quickly adjusted and gave us a really strong person after that.” —Manager

Medasource Highlighted for Partnership & Consistent Contact with Clients; Experis Health Solutions’ Clients Find Pricing Model to Be a Benefit

Validated with Epic and Oracle Health go-lives (especially small engagements of less than 100 consultants), Medasource is highlighted for their strong partnership and proactive communication. The firm builds client loyalty through consistent contact, with respondents noting that regular meetings were held to ensure projects stayed on course. Interviewed clients also appreciate that staff at all levels focused on providing high-quality service rather than on pushing additional sales. Experis Health Solutions, with the second highest number of validated engagements, was chosen by several respondents for what they perceived to be a competitive pricing model. Additionally, many note the firm’s strong support in optimizing processes and workflows throughout the engagement. While most respondents are highly satisfied or satisfied, Experis clients report a more varied experience than other client bases, especially related to quality of staff—many respondents highlight the high-quality project managers, though three interviewed clients feel some support resources were not as knowledgeable as expected.

“[Medasource’s] strengths are creating a strong vendor partnership through their executives and account managers. They have consistent contact that is appropriate to our level of engagement, and they follow up on the success of resources. The staff follows and fits our business needs to create a very successful end-user experience.” —IT director

“Overall, things went well with [Experis Health Solutions], and their work was impressive. Their primary representative . . . was very professional and easy to talk with. They were great at understanding our situation and reacting. They knew their organization and how to tailor their tools and resources to meet our needs. Our contact was very capable of gathering resources to solve problems. When we needed help, the firm’s people were quick to jump into virtual help rooms and ensure everything was working properly. When we had an issue, everybody seemed to be able to solve problems or know who to involve to get things going.” —Analyst

Tegria* Is Noted for MEDITECH Expertise, Divurgent* for Problem Resolution; Client Experience Is More Variable for Both

Supporting small go-lives, Tegria* is notably the only firm in this study with validated MEDITECH engagements (though go-lives are not Tegria’s primary service line). Two of the three respondents are highly satisfied with Tegria, noting professional service from the staff, effective implementation support, and strong MEDITECH expertise. Despite their high overall satisfaction, one of these respondents feels the go-live was more chaotic than necessary. This sentiment is shared by the third interviewed client, who is dissatisfied overall and feels the firm failed to provide a proactive strategy that could have allowed for more organization and prevented issues. Divurgent* has a smaller client base and was validated mostly for midsize Epic projects (100–250 consultants). In general, clients are satisfied, though one organization reports high dissatisfaction with the firm. Satisfied respondents highlight the highly accessible leaders who were quick to provide viable solutions to problems as well as the firm’s skill at preventing clinician frustration during go-lives. Two respondents feel the firm could have done more to increase the size and strength of the go-live resource bench. Additionally, one client mentioned communication issues and inconsistencies in staff quality that made it hard to be successful.

*Limited data

“[Tegria’s] support was good and effective, but there were a large number of folks coming on-site on short notice, so they were all fresh to the project. There is a lot of chaos during a go-live, but we would have liked greater consistency in our support resources and the coordination of them coming and going. We would have liked more clarity with the resources. Overall, the implementation was really good.” —VP of IT

“Divurgent’s people are rock stars. There were people that definitely understood our project, understood workflows, understood healthcare, understood how it should operate, and were very helpful. Then there were some resources that were completely ineffective. That was a miss. There were opportunities to better train people. Our engagement was during a time when it was difficult for even Divurgent to recruit resources, but that is what they are there for.” —CIO

Emerging Firms Ellit Groups* & Healthrise* See High Client Satisfaction due to Strong Communication & Involvement

Emerging firms in the space, Ellit Groups and Healthrise receive highly positive feedback from the limited number of interviewed clients. Validated for two large and two small Epic go-lives, Ellit Groups* is highlighted for the way their leadership engages with clients and for providing at-the-elbow support that outperformed expectations. Respondents mention the benefits of the daily snapshots detailing relevant information that the firm provided during the go-live. Healthrise* is validated for three small and two midsize Epic go-lives. Respondents appreciate the firm’s clinical expertise and accurate up-front assessments. One organization highlighted how the firm set up a war room to monitor interactions on the front end, and another mentioned that there were zero unanticipated costs. Validated with small Epic go-lives, HCTec* is noted for their hardworking, versatile, and knowledgeable staff as well as their flexibility in staying within budget.

*Limited data

“I have used at-the-elbow support in a number of organizations. I have always viewed it as a necessary evil. I have to spend a lot of money, and I always feel like I don’t get a lot of bang for my buck out of it. But Ellit Groups really does at-the-elbow support. They have dialed in really well. In fact, our vendor executive really encouraged me not to do at-the-elbow support because they said it was a huge waste of money. They came back to me afterward and said that going with Ellit Groups was the best money they had ever seen spent; the firm crushed it.” —CIO

“[Healthrise] consistently exceeds expectations. One of the key characteristics of Healthrise is their clinical expertise and experience to assess things accurately up front. Their cost metrics are exceedingly good in terms of overall and downstream costs. There are zero unanticipated costs. We have received our money’s worth, . . . and the firm is a great partner that helps us. We work with them specifically because of their expertise, clinical knowledge, and ability to adequately and appropriately assess situations. We are very well aligned with the firm in terms of our core tenets, such as accessibility and availability, commitment to excellence and continual improvement, and all those things. The firm is top notch.” —CMIO

“HCTec did not disappoint. I am not dissatisfied in any way with their services and the way they conduct business. HCTec certainly follows up to ensure that the staff members they place with us are doing the jobs we hired them to do. The firm is really good at ensuring we are happy with the quality of the work being produced. They are responsive to our needs. I can call HCTec last minute to change things up. They are extremely flexible and don’t necessarily nickel-and-dime us when we need to make changes. I am extremely happy.” —VP

About This Report

Each year, KLAS interviews thousands of healthcare professionals about the IT solutions and services their organizations use. For this report, interviews were conducted over an 18-month period between November 2022 and May 2024 using KLAS’ standard quantitative evaluation for healthcare services, which is composed of 9 numeric ratings questions and 3 yes/no questions, all weighted equally. Combined, the ratings for these questions make up the overall performance score, which is measured on a 100-point scale. The questions are organized into five customer experience pillars—loyalty, operations, relationship, services, and value.

Sample Sizes

Unless otherwise noted, sample sizes displayed throughout this report (e.g., n=16) represent the total number of unique client organizations interviewed for a given firm or service. However, it should be noted that to allow for the representation of differing perspectives within any one client organization, samples may include surveys from different individuals at the same organization. The table below shows the total number of unique organizations interviewed for each firm or service as well as the total number of individual respondents.

Some respondents choose not to answer particular questions, meaning the sample size for any given firm or service can change from question to question. When the number of unique organization responses for a particular question is less than 6, the score for that question is marked with an asterisk (*) or otherwise designated as “limited data.” If the sample size is less than 3, no score is shown. Where textual content relies on limited data, the firm name is marked with an asterisk. Note that when a firm has a low number of reporting sites, the possibility exists for KLAS scores to change significantly as new surveys are collected.