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IT Advisory Services 2023
What Services Do Firms Offer and How Consistently Do They Perform?

author - Trent Davis
Author
Trent Davis
author - Jonathan Christensen
Author
Jonathan Christensen
author - Doug VanWagenen
Author
Doug VanWagenen
 
February 9, 2023 | Read Time: 7  minutes

In the IT advisory space, many firms perform well, but the breadth of their expertise varies—some firms offer many services, while others focus on a specific area. This report examines the breadth of firms’ validated services as well as client satisfaction and performance consistency. To provide better transparency into IT advisory services, KLAS has broken them into the following four segments: IT planning and assessment, revenue cycle optimization, clinical optimization, and analytics advisory services. Additionally, this report categorizes firms into four groups based on validated engagements:


  1. Broadly validated (at least one validated engagement in all four segments)
  2. Moderately validated (at least one validated engagement in three segments)
  3. Narrowly validated (at least one validated engagement in one or two segments)
  4. Software vendors that also provide IT advisory services


Note: This report provides data on KLAS-validated service engagements and does not represent a holistic view of all services provided by each firm. To capture a more complete picture of how this market has developed since KLAS last published a full report in 2019, the usual 18-month data collection window KLAS employs for services data was expanded to 27 months (September 2020–November 2022). Given the adjusted window, this data will not match that shown in the 2023 Best in KLAS report.

overall performance and breadth of it advisory firms

This study compares firms’ overall performance scores as well as the consistency across clients’ experiences by looking at the gap between the top 25% and bottom 25% of client experiences. According to report respondents, the three top areas that contribute to higher variability in client experiences include staff quality, strategic guidance, and tailored recommendations.

Firms That Are Broadly Validated

snapshot of firms performance broadly validated

Chartis Leads, Providing Most Consistently Positive Experience; Tegria & Nordic Continue to Deliver Highly Successful Projects amid Growth

Among firms that are broadly validated, Chartis and Nordic provide the most consistently high performances. The majority of Chartis respondents are highly satisfied with the firm’s extensive healthcare expertise, experience, and execution that guides them to success. Most report that they get their money’s worth. Analytics advisory clients also report accelerated analytic capabilities as a tangible outcome. Tegria has grown quickly over the last few years by acquiring firms such as Bluetree Network, Cumberland, and Navin Haffty (who were measured separately in past KLAS research). Since these acquisitions, most clients continue to report successful projects across engagement types thanks to knowledgeable consultants who offer a collaborative partnership. About 13% of respondents note challenges; a few see gaps in the firm’s insights and question their ability to deliver actionable recommendations. Nordic is highlighted for their high performance, strong partnership, knowledgeable consultants, and quick replacements when needed. Clients report the firm has continued to provide successful engagements while growing significantly in recent years, including acquiring firms like Bails and S&P Consultants. One respondent (3%) reported dissatisfaction. Impact Advisors clients appreciate the firm’s expertise and high-quality consultants as well as the price and lack of additional costs for scoping work. A little over 10% of respondents feel less satisfied with their experience, citing struggles with staffing and recommendations that weren’t specific enough.

Accenture Provides Value to Large Organizations; ECG Management Consultants Clients Note Inconsistencies in Consultant Quality

Accenture is known for working with very large organizations on complex projects. Clients report positive experiences, noting strengths such as a deep bench of talent and the ability to execute strategies. All respondents also state that there were no unexpected costs. Of the 11 organizations interviewed in this sample, one respondent had a less-satisfactory experience. ECG Management Consultants’ clients appreciate the high-level resources that drive tangible outcomes by partnering with organizations. Some inconsistencies exist in the client experience—the 15% of dissatisfied respondents mentioned challenges such as miscommunications, insufficient strategic guidance, and consultants who lack needed experience.

Firms That Are Moderately Validated

snapshot of firms performance maderately validated

Huron Provides Highly Rated, Consistent Experiences; Galen Healthcare & PwC (Both Limited Data) Partner with Clients & Exceed Expectations

Huron clients view the firm as a flexible, responsive partner that is easy to work with and driven by results. One of the 10 respondents reports being less satisfied, citing a need for better strategic guidance and recommendations. All interviewed clients of Galen Healthcare (limited data) would engage the firm again due to strong partnership that helps clients complete complicated projects. These highly satisfied clients feel the firm exceeds their expectations in terms of building out reports, hitting tight timelines, and providing software knowledge. PwC (limited data) is similarly seen as a partner and exceeds most clients’ expectations regarding research capabilities, methodology, and an ability to work through barriers. Clients highlight access to thought leaders and executive leaders when needed. All six respondents report being either highly satisfied or satisfied with PwC.

Clients See Pivot Point Consulting as a Partner, Note Some Staffing Misses; Deloitte Clients (Limited Data) Feel Value Is Lacking Due to High Cost

Pivot Point Consulting is seen as a partner that offers strategic guidance and a disciplined approach to mapping out projects. All interviewed clients say they would use the firm again and have experienced no unexpected costs. However, 25% of respondents report some dissatisfaction because of inconsistencies with project managers, subject matter experts, and communication. Overall, clients of Deloitte (limited data) don’t feel they receive enough value for what they perceive as an expensive price tag. Primary concerns include the need for tailored recommendations, insufficient strategic guidance, and consultants’ abilities to foster strong relationships with key stakeholders.

Firms That Are Narrowly Validated

snapshot of firms performance narrowly validated

Chi-Matic and Guidehouse (Limited Data) Are Trusted Partners; Clients See Variation in Performance with Prominence and EY (Limited Data)

Started by former Epic employees, Chi-Matic offers Epic expertise and is viewed as a highly trusted partner who responds to clients’ needs, understands the software being optimized, and can identify other high-value areas for revenue cycle optimization. All respondents say they would recommend Chi-Matic and use their services again. Guidehouse’s (limited data) IT planning and assessment and revenue cycle optimization services exceed all clients’ expectations, as the firm pairs clients with seasoned experts who can strategically guide projects. Healthlink Advisors, Huntzinger Management Group, and Softek (limited data) also perform well in their respective areas.

Prominence—founded by former Epic employees—is seen as an expert in the analytics advisory space. Clients note the firm provides strategic guidance with knowledge transfer. 14% of respondents report lower satisfaction and desire more recommendations. In general, EY (limited data) clients feel the firm can provide strong execution during IT planning and assessment projects. Of the seven respondents, 29% are less satisfied with their experiences due to EY misunderstanding their organizations and problems, and another respondent didn’t receive the expected deliverables due to variation in consultant quality.

Software Vendors That Provide IT Advisory Services

snapshot of validated performance software vendors

Oracle Health (Cerner) and athenahealth provide some IT advisory services to their EMR customers, and their performance is typically more variable than that of other firms. Oracle Health’s performance differs significantly across project types. Clinical optimization clients who report positive experiences cite receiving the desired outcomes and the consultants’ strategic vision and responsiveness. 36% of respondents are less satisfied due to inconsistent consultant quality—one respondent experienced poor pre-project planning, and another stated that Oracle Health doesn’t have a way to onboard quality staff.

Some customers say that in the future, they would choose another services firm over Oracle Health. athenahealth (limited data) provides revenue cycle optimization services to their EMR customers, who say the consultants deliver a supportive partnership.


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 the last 27 months 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.

customer experience pillars

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 following table 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 10, the score for that question is marked with an asterisk (*) or otherwise designated as “limited data.” If the sample size is less than 5, no score is shown. 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.

standard evaluation
author - Natalie Hopkins
Writer
Natalie Hopkins
author - Bronson Allgood
Designer
Bronson Allgood
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This material is copyrighted. Any organization gaining unauthorized access to this report will be liable to compensate KLAS for the full retail price. Please see the KLAS DATA USE POLICY for information regarding use of this report. © 2025 KLAS Research, LLC. All Rights Reserved. NOTE: Performance scores may change significantly when including newly interviewed provider organizations, especially when added to a smaller sample size like in emerging markets with a small number of live clients. The findings presented are not meant to be conclusive data for an entire client base.