Capturing first-hand perspectives from healthcare leaders involved in evaluating and purchasing products and services across Academic Medical Centers and Regional Health Systems.
Healthcare purchasing decisions involve multiple stakeholders, priorities, and levels of influence. Understanding who identifies a need, who researches potential solutions, and who ultimately signs off on a decision is critical when evaluating how products and services are considered within complex healthcare organizations.
For this study, the client sought to better understand the needs and purchase dynamics of healthcare organizations, including how decision-makers define purchase criteria, participate in purchasing processes, and perceive different brands.
Vertex Expert Network supported the initiative by identifying and recruiting qualified healthcare professionals whose responsibilities and experience aligned directly with the client’s research requirements.
The focus was on senior stakeholders within Academic Medical Centers (AMCs) and Regional Health Systems (RHS), with representation across both clinical and non-clinical functions.
The objective was to provide the client with access to healthcare stakeholders directly involved in evaluating and purchasing products and services.
The research focused on understanding:
- Healthcare organizations’ needs and priorities
- How purchase criteria are defined
- How purchasing decisions are made
- The roles of decision-makers and influencers within buying groups
- How healthcare organizations perceive different brands
- The factors involved in selecting new suppliers or partners
The study specifically targeted stakeholders involved in four priority areas:
- Financial Strength
- Strategic Growth
- Care Delivery Performance
- Workforce Optimization
Vertex applied a highly specific recruitment framework to identify professionals working within qualifying U.S. healthcare organizations.
The target audience included healthcare stakeholders directly involved in evaluating and purchasing products and services, particularly within Academic Medical Centers and Regional Health Systems.
The organizations we target included:
- $1B+ net patient revenue for AMCs/RHSs
- 500+ staffed beds
- Acute-care healthcare environments
The recruitment framework was designed to move beyond general healthcare professionals and identify individuals with direct decision-making or influencing responsibilities.
The target seniority included:
- C-suite executives
- EVP / SVP / VP-level professionals within medical institutes
- Clinical Directors
- Non-clinical leaders such as Supply chain and procurement decision makers
The sample was also structured to include both clinical and non-clinical stakeholders, with a 50/50 target split.
A key part of the recruitment process was matching each participant’s professional responsibilities to the relevant organizational need area.
- Financial Strength
Participants included CFOs, Chief Supply Chain Officers, and VP partnership, whose responsibilities aligned with financial and purchasing priorities.
- Strategic Growth
Participants included Chief Strategy Officers, VP Strategy / Planning, and Network or Regional Operations leaders, whose roles aligned with organizational growth and strategic priorities.
- Care Delivery Performance
Participants included Chief Medical Officers, Chief Quality Officers, and Chief Nursing Officers, whose responsibilities aligned with clinical quality, patient safety, and care delivery.
- Workforce Optimization
Participants included CHRO / Chief People Officers, VP Human Resources, and VP Talent / Workforce Planning, whose responsibilities aligned with workforce and organizational planning.
This ensured that the professionals engaged were relevant not simply because they worked in healthcare, but because their responsibilities aligned with the specific areas being explored.
The screening process also required participants to demonstrate real involvement in organizational decisions.
Participants were screened according to whether they:
- Identified organizational needs
- Researched and shortlisted potential solutions
- Influenced purchasing decisions
- Signed off on decisions
- Had direct involvement in addressing priority organizational needs
The research explored how purchasing decisions operate within complex healthcare organizations.
Participants were screened to capture variation in procurement structures, including:
- Centralized purchasing at the system level
- Hybrid purchasing models
- Facility-level purchasing with limited system-wide coordination
This provided access to professionals with different perspectives on how needs are identified, solutions are evaluated and purchasing decisions progress within healthcare organizations.
The study also explored how healthcare decision-makers evaluate potential suppliers and partners.
Participants were required to clearly articulate what they look for when selecting a new supplier or partner for their organization.
The screening additionally captured the external organizations and service providers that participating healthcare organizations work with, while maintaining the required sponsor-blind recruitment process.
The study focused on two types of complex healthcare organizations:
Academic Medical Centers
Academic or teaching hospitals with research and university affiliations.
Regional Health Systems
Multi-site, community-based systems serving defined geographic areas.
The recruitment structure targeted representation across both organization types, with quotas assigned across the four priority areas.
The overall planned structure included:
- 15 AMC participants
- 6 Regional Health System participants
- Representation across Financial Strength, Strategic Growth, Care Delivery Performance, and Workforce Optimization
- U.S.-based participants
- Senior decision-makers and influencers involved in healthcare purchasing and organizational priorities
Qualified participants were invited to take part in a 75-minute in-depth qualitative interview with UX tracking.
The participant mix was designed to provide representation across organization type, functional background, seniority, decision-making involvement, and priority need areas.
Vertex Expert Network’s role was to provide the client with access to the right professionals for the research requirements.
This involved:
- Identifying relevant healthcare professionals
- Screening participants against detailed eligibility criteria
- Verifying seniority and organizational responsibilities
- Matching professionals to the required priority areas
- Ensuring representation across Academic Medical Centers and Regional Health Systems
- Recruiting participants with direct purchasing and decision-making experience
- Coordinating qualified participants for the research engagement
The value of the engagement came from ensuring that the client could speak directly with professionals whose roles, organizations, and decision-making experience matched the requirements of the study.
The study engaged senior healthcare professionals including:
- C-suite healthcare executives
- EVP / SVP / VP and Director-level leaders
- Service-line leaders
- Supply chain and procurement leaders
- Quality and performance improvement leaders
- Population health and clinical operations leaders
- Clinical stakeholders
- Non-clinical stakeholders
- Professionals directly involved in identifying needs, researching solutions, influencing decisions, and approving purchases
Looking to understand how healthcare organizations evaluate technology, suppliers, and purchasing decisions? Connect with Vertex to access qualified healthcare professionals with firsthand experience across complex healthcare buying groups and decision-making processes.
