Choosing a technology partner is one of the most consequential decisions a healthcare organization can make. The right technology platform can reduce administrative burden, safeguard compliance, and support growth, while the wrong choice can slow teams down and introduce unnecessary risk.
Cardinal Hospice Care knows this firsthand. After its previous EMR system proved inadequate, the organization reevaluated its technology strategy. Their experience highlights five essential questions every hospice organization should ask before selecting a technology partner:
1. Will this system reduce administrative burden for clinicians?
Documentation is necessary, but it shouldn’t distract clinicians from patient care. Technology should simplify, not complicate, the clinical experience.
Cardinal’s experience:
When evaluating new solutions, Cardinal asked four different hospice EMR providers the same questions. Because Axxess Hospice was custom-built by hospice clinicians, not adapted from another care setting, it included the hospice‑specific features Cardinal needed, such as integrated volunteer and bereavement management workflows and hospice-compliant documentation templates.
Best practice:
Ask potential partners:
- Were clinicians involved in product design?
- Can common clinical tasks be completed in just a few clicks?
- Is documentation aligned with hospice-specific requirements rather than retrofitted from other care settings?
Clinician-friendly technology plays a direct role in satisfaction and retention.
2. Does the system support interdisciplinary teamwork?
Hospice care depends on collaboration among clinical, administrative, and billing teams. When systems don’t communicate well internally, the burden often falls on staff to bridge the gaps.
Cardinal’s experience:
Cardinal prioritized finding a unified solution where clinical documentation, eligibility tracking, and billing could live within the same ecosystem. By moving to a single sign-on platform, their teams gained clearer visibility into patient status and fewer handoffs between disconnected tools.
Best practice:
When evaluating a vendor, dig into real workflows:
- How easily can nurses, social workers, and billers access the same data?
- Are updates reflected in real time across departments?
- Does the system reduce follow-up emails, phone calls, and duplicate work?
Integrated technology strengthens both compliance and team efficiency.
3. Can this system scale with our growth?
Many hospice organizations adopt technology that works “for now,” only to find it strains under growth, whether that’s more patients, more locations, or more complex regulatory requirements.
Cardinal’s experience:
As Cardinal grew, the limitations of their legacy system became impossible to ignore. Manual workarounds that once felt manageable turned into operational bottlenecks, adding administrative strain and limiting visibility across locations. Without consistent reporting or standardized workflows, it became increasingly difficult to track performance trends or plan effectively as their census grew.
When evaluating new solutions, Cardinal found that Axxess’ Business Intelligence dashboards provided the kind of real‑time, organization‑wide visibility they had been missing. They needed a system built to support multi‑site growth, streamline reporting, and eliminate the inefficiencies that were slowing teams down.
Best practice:
Look beyond your current census. Ask whether the platform:
- Supports multi-location visibility and reporting
- Can standardize workflows across branches
- Eliminates redundant data entry as volume increases
- Provides real-time analytics that scale with operational complexity
A scalable system should make growth feel manageable, not chaotic.
4. How does the system support compliance with Medicare and other regulatory requirements?
Hospice organizations operate in one of the most highly regulated environments in healthcare. Technology must help teams stay compliant, not reactively, but by design.
Cardinal’s experience:
Cardinal recognized that compliance couldn’t be treated as an add-on. They needed embedded safeguards to support Medicare eligibility documentation, billing accuracy, and survey readiness.
Best practice:
A strong hospice technology partner should:
- Build regulatory requirements directly into workflows
- Help prevent errors before claims are submitted
- Provide audit-ready reporting and documentation
Ask vendors how often their systems are updated to reflect regulatory changes and how those updates reach end users.
5. Will this partner act as a long-term extension of our team?
Technology is only part of the equation. Implementation, training, and ongoing support determine whether a platform truly delivers value.
Cardinal’s experience:
Beyond functionality, Cardinal wanted a partner that offered reliable, ongoing support. From onboarding through everyday use, they needed confidence that help would be available when challenges arose.
Best practice:
When assessing vendors:
- Ask about onboarding timelines and training models
- Learn how support requests are handled and by whom
- Look for evidence of long-term customer relationships, not just onboarding success stories
A true technology partner grows alongside your organization.
Making the Right Choice for Your Future
Cardinal Hospice Care’s experience underscores a simple truth: choosing hospice technology is about more than features; it’s about fit. By asking the right questions upfront and learning from organizations that have successfully navigated these decisions, hospice leaders can make more informed, future‑ready choices.
If your organization is reevaluating its technology strategy, Cardinal’s journey offers a valuable roadmap for what to look for, and what to expect, from the right partner.
Axxess Hospice was custom-built by hospice experts for hospice professionals. Click here to learn more.
