What You Should Know:
– As healthcare IT environments grow increasingly complex, a new KLAS Decision Insights report reveals that health systems are turning to external firms primarily for high-level strategic planning and IT assessments.
– The study, based on 38 purchase decisions between 2023 and 2025, identifies Chartis, Impact Advisors, and Healthlink Advisors as the most frequently considered partners. Crucially, the data shows that expertise and cultural alignment are the dominant drivers for selection, often outweighing cost considerations in final decision-making.
The Expertise Mandate: How Health Systems Are Selecting IT Partners in 2025
For the modern healthcare CIO, the days of “keeping the lights on” are long gone. The mandate has shifted to complex digital transformation—deploying AI governance, optimizing cloud environments, and navigating mergers. Consequently, hospitals are no longer just hiring extra hands; they are hiring strategic brains.
A new report from KLAS Research, IT Planning & Assessment Services 2025, sheds light on exactly how these high-stakes decisions are being made. Drawing on 38 validated purchase decisions from October 2023 to October 2025, the data paints a picture of a market where deep, specialized expertise is the ultimate currency.
The Demand for Strategy Over Tactics
The report highlights a clear trend: healthcare organizations aren’t looking for generic advice. They are seeking specific, high-level guidance to navigate uncertainty.
According to KLAS, IT Strategic Planning is the most common engagement type, cited by 56% of validated clients. This is closely followed by IT Assessment (50%), where firms benchmark current systems against industry standards. Interestingly, newer categories like Cloud Advisory (11%) and AI Advisory (1%) are emerging but still trail traditional strategic road-mapping, suggesting that while AI is buzzy, foundational IT strategy remains the priority.
The Leaderboard: Who is Winning the Business?
In the scramble for talent, a few names are consistently rising to the top of the RFP pile.
- The Chartis Group emerged as a dominant force in this sample, with 22 considerations and 10 selections. Clients frequently cited their “broad market expertise” and ability to deliver sustainable strategy models rather than just telling clients what they want to hear.
- Impact Advisors followed closely with 29 considerations and 5 selections , favored for their mix of high-level strategy and technical depth—the ability to go from the boardroom to the data center.
- Healthlink Advisors (recently acquired by Chartis) punched above its weight with a high conversion rate, noted for being a strong “cultural fit” and nailing the scope on the first pass.
Other notable players like Nordic, Deloitte, and Optimum Healthcare IT also secured wins, often leveraging existing relationships or specific niche expertise like cloud advisory.
Why Firms Win (and Lose)
Perhaps the most critical insight for buyers is why decisions go the way they do. In 2025, “Expertise” is the single most mentioned factor for selection. Conversely, when a firm loses a bid, it is rarely just about the price tag. The top reason cited for not selecting a firm was “Firm had less expertise than a competitor” (21 mentions), followed by “Less ideal fit/alignment” (18 mentions).
Cost was a distant fourth factor, mentioned only 6 times as the primary reason for rejection. This underscores a reality of the current market: when the future of a health system’s digital infrastructure is at stake, leaders are willing to pay for the team that truly understands their unique environment.
The Bottom Line
For health systems, the takeaway is clear: successful partnerships start with defining the “why.” As the report suggests, organizations that clarify their project scope and openly share how they differ from their peers are far more likely to find a partner that can move beyond “industry best practices” to deliver genuine innovation.
