Understanding the true cost of your RIS – it may be more than you think.
COSTS
When you ask a RIS vendor for a price quote, what do you get? You generally will receive a quote that outlines the upfront cost and annual support cost for that particular system. What about the less visible costs such as software upgrade fees, hardware upgrade fees, custom programming fees, license renewal fees, etc.? Not knowing these fees can create major headaches when unbudgeted expenses begin to arise after the installation of your new RIS. To avoid these surprises, you need to ask these questions before you sign a contract:
1) How much do you charge for software upgrades and/or updates? It is not uncommon for vendors to charge 20% of license fees for upgrades in addition to the normal support fee.
2) How much do you charge per hour for custom programming for programmers vs. analysts, etc.? You might not think that you will ever need custom program changes to your RIS but approximately 80% of all facilities will need one or more such changes during the first year of use of their RIS. Imagine using your entire RIS budget to purchase your new RIS and then find out it will cost an additional $20K (or more) to make a software change that you really need.
3) Will my software license expire and if so, after how many years? Did you know that some vendor’s license agreements are for a specific number of years, such as seven? After that, you are required to purchase a brand new license agreement at the then current prices.
4) How often do you require that hardware be upgraded? Be aware that the cost to upgrade hardware is sometimes more expensive than the RIS license itself. RIS vendors that use generic hardware have an advantage over those who don’t because you can purchase generic hardware anywhere. If the hardware is more proprietary, you might be limited to only purchasing it from your RIS vendor and at higher prices.
Bottom line: Require that the vendor specify all the costs that you might incur over the first five years of use of their product.