5 Factors to Shorten your Technology Sales Cycle in Canadian Healthcare
Samara Starkman
Want a hospital to use your technology? How to shorten your sales cycle by addressing privacy
You have this fabulous technology that will revolutionize healthcare in Canada, improve patient care, workflow, decision support…. if only healthcare providers and hospitals would buy it! There are a lot of factors that go into a sale in healthcare technology in Canada, and privacy compliance is one of those factors that will increase your credibility and shorten the sales cycle with healthcare organizations.
Here are 5 factors to prepare your privacy value proposition for sales in healthcare technology:
Know which legislation applies to your company, technology, and services and which legislation applies to your customers
Private sector privacy legislation, such as the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”), Canada’s federal private sector privacy legislation applies across Canada though some provinces have their own private sector privacy legislation. Knowing what your obligations are and what obligations your customers have is the starting point for your privacy program and communicating your privacy value proposition.
Prepare to address how you will enable your customers to comply with their obligations
Many provinces have health privacy legislation and, while it may or may not apply to your company or technology, it likely applies to your customers. They may have to ensure that certain provisions are in contracts with service providers, or that they limit the uses of data by their service providers. They may have to ensure that they can access data within certain time frames, block data from being shared between providers, and enforce retention periods. By knowing what your customers need, you can build it into your business processes and/or technology and ensure that you’re prepared to speak to this.
Make sure your contracts are compliant
Once you know the obligations in of your customers, you can tailor your contracts to ensure that your contracts will enable them to comply with their obligations under their applicable legislation.
Keep data in Canada when possible and address how you protect data when it is not stored in Canada
While there are a couple of circumstances where provinces require data to be stored in Canada, for the most part, this is not a legislated requirement. Nevertheless, there is trepidation and discomfort within the healthcare sector in Canada when sensitive personal information is stored outside of the country. Setting up to provide your services within Canadian data infrastructure simplifies your sales pitch. Regardless of where your data infrastructure is housed, your contracts with your service providers should ensure that they can only use the data for the service they are providing to your company.
5. Be transparent with your privacy and security practices
When companies are cagey or not forthcoming about their data management practices, customers lose confidence and trust. Once you’ve put the effort in to address #1-4 above, shout it from the rooftops! (But please don’t say you’re “PHIPA Compliant”….that’s not a thing for technology…but that’s another blog).
The bottom line: Let your customers know that you value their data, that it is THEIR data, and that it will be protected in a manner that enables them to comply with their legislative obligations and best practices. Put the effort in up front - it will save you significant frustration, shorten your sales cycle, and earn trust in the long run.