Tele-health Platform RFP Template for Clinics: Security, Integration, and Pricing Terms
- Define a focused, SEO-friendly structure covering security, integration, pricing, and vendor evaluation for telehealth RFPs.
- Incorporate the provided long-tail keywords naturally within headings and text for search visibility.
- Offer clear, actionable RFP content items (requirements, evaluation criteria, examples) clinics can copy/paste.
- Emphasize compliance, scalability, and support expectations to guide choice and scoring.
- Deliver a polished Markdown outline and sample language suitable for expansion into a full RFP or procurement package.
Introduction: Purpose and Scope of this Telehealth RFP Template
Telehealth is now a core part of outpatient care. Your clinic might be a small primary care practice or part of a larger health system. Issuing a clear, security-first Call for Proposal (RFP) ensures you get a vendor that meets clinical, technical, and financial needs. This template focuses on three pillars. These pillars decide long-term success. They are security and compliance, EHR integration and clinical workflow fit, and transparent pricing and contract terms.
Why clinics need a tailored telehealth RFP
- Telehealth vendor capabilities vary widely — from consumer-focused video apps to enterprise clinical platforms.
- A tailored RFP reduces implementation risk by specifying required technical standards, security attestations, and clinical workflows.
- Well-defined evaluation criteria make vendor choice objective, defensible, and faster for procurement committees.
How this template addresses security, integration, and pricing terms
This RFP template includes:
- Telehealth RFP template security requirements to protect PHI and meet audit standards.
- ehrs integration requirements rfp telehealth language to guarantee real-time, claim-ready clinical data exchange.
- telehealth rfp pricing terms examples and TCO guidance to compare vendors on a like-for-like basis.
Who should use this: stakeholders and procurement roles
- Clinic leadership and clinical directors
- IT and security officers
- Compliance and privacy officers
- Procurement teams and finance
- Project managers who will run vendor evaluations
Essential Security and Compliance Requirements
Security and compliance are non-negotiable. The following sections offer specific, copy/paste-ready requirements and evaluation points.
Telehealth RFP template security requirements: core controls and certifications
Include the next core security controls in your RFP:
- Encryption: TLS 1.2+ for encryption in transit; AES-256 or equivalent for encryption at rest.
- Authentication & Access Controls: Role-based access control (RBAC), MFA for administrative access, support for SAML 2.0/OAuth for SSO.
- Logging & Monitoring: Immutable audit logs with at least 1-year retention; ability to export logs to clinic SIEM.
- Incident Response: Documented incident response plan, 24/7 security monitoring, and breach notification timelines.
- Third-party Certifications: SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, and regular penetration tests.
Example RFP clause:
Vendor must provide a current SOC 2 Type II report. They must also provide a third-party penetration test summary. Additionally, the vendor must attest to the encryption standards used for data in transit and at rest.
HIPAA compliance RFP telehealth: documentation and auditability
For U.S. clinics, include explicit HIPAA requirements:
- Business Associate Agreement (BAA): Vendor must sign a BAA before any PHI exchange.
- Audit Trails: Detailed access logs showing who accessed PHI, when, and for what purpose.
- Breach Notification: Contractual timeline for breach notification (e.g., within 72 hours of vendor confirmation).
- Privacy Controls: Role-based privacy filters, patient consent mechanisms, and data minimization practices.
Cite for context: The HHS provides guidance on HIPAA and telehealth: HHS telehealth guidance.
Data residency, encryption in transit and at rest, and third-party security assessments
- Data residency: Specify permitted data hosting geography (e.g., United States only) and whether backups replicate across regions.
- Encryption specifics: Require AES-256 for stored data and TLS 1.2+ for connections. Include key management expectations.
- Third-party testing: Annual penetration test, vulnerability scanning cadence, and remediation SLAs. Require supply of penetration test executive summary and remediation plan.
Stat: According to a 2021 (prevalence continuing) report, 67% of healthcare organizations experienced a cyberattack in the prior year. This makes vendor security posture critical (Beazley Breach Insights).
Integration and Interoperability: EHRs and Clinical Workflows
Integration matters: a platform that doesn’t fit clinical workflows will reduce adoption and increase administrative burden.
EHRs integration requirements RFP telehealth: standards and APIs
Specify standards and capabilities:
- APIs: RESTful FHIR APIs for patient, meeting, scheduling, and document exchange; OAuth 2.0 for secure API authentication.
- Common pitfalls: Clarify mapping for custom fields and how vendor handles EHR upgrades or customizations.
Example necessity:
“Vendor must support FHIR R4 Patient, Meeting, Appointment, Practitioner, and DocumentReference resources and offer sandbox API login details for testing.”
Reference: ONC FHIR resources overview – ONC Interoperability.
Workflow integration: scheduling, documentation, and billing
Define expectations for clinical workflow alignment:
- Scheduling: Bi-directional scheduling sync to avoid double bookings; configurable confirmation workflows (SMS/email).
- Documentation: Visit notes auto-populate into the EHR as structured clinical notes; template support for specialties.
- Billing readiness: Capture CPT/ICD codes at point of care; produce claim-ready meeting data for billing systems.
- SSO & Identity: Support SAML 2.0 or OIDC for single sign-on, reducing login friction for clinicians.
Practical example: A completed telehealth visit must generate a structured meeting payload. This should happen within 60 seconds to the clinic’s billing engine.
Scalability criteria telehealth rfp: supporting growth and peak loads
Include performance and capacity expectations:
- Peak load handling: Ability to handle X concurrent sessions per 1000 patients or provide elastic scaling details.
- Multi-tenant architecture: Tenant isolation details, data partitioning, and noisy-neighbor protections.
- Load balancing & redundancy: Geographic redundancy, database failover, and recovery point/time objectives (RPO/RTO).
Example metric:
Vendor must show support for 2,000 concurrent video sessions. The degradation in video quality must be less than 5%. They must supply test results or stress test reports.
Keyword used: scalability criteria telehealth rfp.
Vendor Evaluation and Support Expectations
This section helps procurement teams compare vendors objectively and define support expectations.
Vendor evaluation telehealth rfp checklist: scoring and choice criteria
Use a weighted checklist to score vendors. Sample categories and weights:
- Security & Compliance — 30% (BAA, SOC 2, encryption)
- EHR Integration & Interoperability — 25% (FHIR support, bi-directional sync)
- Clinical Workflow Fit — 15% (templates, scheduling)
- Support SLA & Uptime — 10% (response times, escalation)
- Pricing & TCO — 10% (transparent fees)
- Vendor Viability & References — 10% (financial stability, case studies)
This is your vendor evaluation telehealth rfp checklist, which ensures fair, repeatable scoring.
Practical tip: Require vendors to supply at least three U.S.-based clinic references with similar scale and EHR.
Support SLA telehealth vendors rfp: service levels and escalation paths
Define support SLAs and penalties:
- Uptime: Target 99.95% annual uptime, with credits for missed targets.
- Response times:
- High (major feature impaired): first response <4 hours, resolution target 48 hours.
- Medium/Low: response within 24–72 hours.
- Maintenance windows: Scheduled maintenance with 30 days’ notice; emergency maintenance permitted with immediate notification and post-event report.
- Escalation path: Named contacts, 24/7 support hotline, and defined C-level escalation.
- Penalties: Service credits formula based on downtime minutes.
Keyword: support sla telehealth vendors rfp.
Vendor viability, roadmap, and customer references
Assess long-term fit:
- Financial stability: Request audited financials or proof of funding to assess 3–5 year viability.
- Product roadmap: Request 12–24 month roadmap and alignment with your clinic’s priorities (e.g., tele-ICU, remote monitoring).
- References & case studies: Obtain references that show successful EHR integrations and measurable outcomes (e.g., reduced no-show rates by X%).
Pricing, Contract Terms, and Examples
Transparent pricing and fair contract language avoid surprises at renewal or exit.
Telehealth RFP pricing terms examples: fee structures and line items
Give sample pricing structures to ask from vendors:
- Subscription models:
- Per-provider monthly fee (e.g., $200/provider/month)
- Enterprise seat/license fee
- Per-visit pricing:
- Implementation fees:
- One-time setup, integration, and training (itemize hours and hourly rates)
- Integration costs:
- EHR connector fees, custom mapping, and API development costs
- Add-ons:
- SMS/voice costs, interpreter services, remote monitoring device management
Include sample line items in RFP pricing table:
- Setup/integration
- Base subscription
- Per-visit fee
- Support (standard vs premium)
- Custom development
- Training & change management
Keyword: telehealth rfp pricing terms examples.
Contract terms to negotiate: renewals, termination, and liability
Key clauses to negotiate:
- Term & auto-renewal: Define first term, renewal windows, and notice periods.
- Termination for convenience and cause: Permit termination with defined notice and exit assistance.
- Indemnity & liability: Cap on liability, carve-outs for gross negligence, and vendor indemnification for data breaches.
- Exit/transition assistance: Minimum 90 days of transition support to migrate data and workflows.
Sample clause:
Upon termination, the vendor will offer a full export of clinic PHI in FHIR R4 format. They will also support data transfer for 90 days at no extra charge.
Cost comparison matrix and total cost of ownership (TCO) considerations
How to evaluate TCO:
- Direct costs: subscription, per-visit fees, integration, hardware, training.
- Indirect costs: staff time for onboarding, workflow changes, billing rework, and productivity loss during cutover.
- Risk costs: potential fines, breach remediation, or service outages.
Create a simple cost model projecting 3-year cost, including anticipated growth scenarios (low, medium, high). Example: compare a subscription model at $200/provider/month vs per-visit at $5/visit for clinic with 10 providers and 20 visits/day.
RFP Appendix: Templates, Checklists, and Sample Questions
This appendix gives copy/paste-ready items you can drop into an RFP.
Sample RFP sections and language to copy/paste
Security clause example:
“Vendor shall adhere to all applicable federal and state laws about patient privacy, including HIPAA. Vendor shall execute the clinic’s BAA before exchange of any PHI.”
Integration clause example:
“Vendor shall provide FHIR R4 APIs for Patient, Meeting, and Appointment resources and deliver a test environment for integration validation.”
SLA excerpt:
“Vendor guarantees 99.95% uptime; service credits are applied for each 30-minute increment of downtime beyond the SLA.”
Vendor questionnaire: targeted questions for HIPAA, security, and EHR integration
Sample questions:
- Do you sign and execute a BAA? Please attach a redacted BAA.
- Do you have a SOC 2 Type II report? Provide the most recent report.
- Describe your encryption algorithms for data at rest and in transit.
- Which EHR systems do you have production integrations with? Give references and integration approach.
- Describe your incident response process and breach notification timeline.
Include demand for attachments: SOC2 report, penetration test summary, roadmap, and three references.
Scoring template and evaluation rubric
Sample weighted rubric (100 points):
- Security & Compliance — 30 points
- BAA executed (5), SOC2 (10), encryption & logging (8), pen test (7)
- Integration — 25 points
- FHIR/API support (10), scheduling/billing sync (8), EHR references (7)
- Workflow Fit — 15 points
- Clinical templates (6), SSO (4), training (5)
- Support & SLA — 10 points
- Uptime (4), response times (4), escalation (2)
- Pricing & TCO — 10 points
- Vendor Viability — 10 points
Note: Adjust weights to reflect your priorities (e.g., security-first clinics may give security 40%+).
Include a simple scoring sheet in CSV:
Category,Weight,Vendor A,Vendor B,Vendor C
Security,30, , ,
Integration,25, , ,
Workflow,15, , ,
SLA,10, , ,
Pricing,10, , ,
Viability,10, , ,
Total,100, , , Conclusion and Next Steps
How to run the RFP process efficiently and objectively
- Publish the RFP with clear deadlines and submission formats.
- Use the weighted scoring rubric for first shortlisting.
- Run technical validation with sandbox access details for top 2–3 vendors.
- Schedule proof-of-concept (PoC) sessions with clinical staff.
- Verify references and financial viability before award.
Prioritizing clinic needs: balancing security, integration, and cost
- Focus on security and compliance as baseline pass/fail criteria.
- Look for vendors with strong EHR integration to reduce workflow friction and billing errors.
- Use TCO models to compare ostensibly cheaper per-visit fees against hidden integration and productivity costs.
Call to action:
If you’re preparing your clinic’s RFP, start by customizing the scoring weights above. Adjust them to show your priorities. Then, copy the security, integration, and pricing clauses into your document. For a checklist PDF or editable RFP template based on this outline, contact your procurement lead. Make sure legal counsel reviews it before issuing the RFP.
Sources & further reading
- U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) — Telehealth and HIPAA: https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/special-topics/telehealth/index.html
- Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) — Interoperability and FHIR resources: https://www.healthit.gov/topic/interoperability
- Beazley / industry breach reports — Healthcare breach trends and risk context: https://www.beazley.com/
“A secure, well-integrated telehealth platform is not a convenience — it’s fundamental to safe, efficient patient care.” — Procurement best practice