Written assignmentHealth information systems

HIM 615 Topic 7 Hardware Solution: RFP

An RFP is a document a supplier has to be able to bid against. That test decides everything about how the requirements section should be written.

Editorial process

Last reviewed · August 25, 2026

Written by

Maren Caldwell

MSN, RN, CNE

Medical-surgical nursing, pharmacology and NCLEX preparation

Reviewed by

Dr. Tessa Redmond

DNP, RN, CNE

Evidence-based practice and clinical education

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Final review

Write requirements a supplier could bid against

The document has a real-world test: could a supplier read this and produce a priced, comparable bid? That single question decides how you write the requirements section, which is where these assignments usually go soft. A requirement stating that the hardware must be reliable and support clinical workflow is unanswerable, so every supplier answers yes and the responses cannot be compared. A requirement stating the number of concurrent users, the device types and their physical environment, the uptime expectation, the retention period and the network interfaces it must support is answerable, and the answers differ. Write requirements the way you would want to receive them, and mark which are mandatory and which are desirable, because that distinction is what lets you score bids rather than merely read them. The distinction between mandatory and desirable is also what a procurement committee will ask for first, so build it in rather than adding it afterwards.

The vantage point instruction matters too. As the informatics director you own the problem rather than the technology, so the background section should describe the facility, the clinical service and the need in enough detail for a supplier to propose something you did not think of, which is one of the things a good RFP is for. Health care adds requirements a generic IT template will not carry, and including them is the fastest way to make this assignment specific: physical environment for devices used at the bedside and their cleaning and infection control constraints, uptime and downtime procedure for a system that cannot simply stop, integration with the existing record and its interface standards, and the security and business associate obligations that follow from handling protected health information. The selection process section should then say how bids will be evaluated, since demonstrations and testing only help if the criteria are stated in advance.

Likely learning objectives

Write requirements specific enough to produce comparable bids.
Distinguish mandatory from desirable requirements for scoring.
Describe the problem rather than dictating the solution.
Include the health-care-specific requirements a generic template omits.

Assignment instructions

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Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.

Details: Refer to the following links that explain the RFP process and provide a template that can be modified to suit any situation: RFP Sample Documents from HIMSS: http://www.himss.org/rfp-sample-documents-0 RFP Template for Health IT: https://www.healthit.gov/sites/default/files/request-for-proposal-template-for-health-information-technology.docx Select one of your suggested solutions you identified in the EHR Life Cycle Presentation assignment. Develop a 750-1,000-word RFP for an EHR hardware solution that would support the selected solution identified in the EHR Life Cycle Presentation assignment. Take on the vantage point of the informatics director at a facility in need of your solution. Your RFP should include, but not be limited to: A brief cover letter (100-150 words). Summary of company’s background information. Important dates. Contact names/resources for answering questions. Requirements that the hardware supplier is to support. Technical requirements — operating system requirements or network environment/interface needs. Marketing collateral. Any supporting document requirements. HIM 615 Topic 7 Hardware Solution RFP The selection process requirements: demonstrations, presentations, testing, install, etc. The format of this assignment should align with that of a standard RFP. This assignment uses a grading rubric. Instructors will be using the rubric to grade the assignment; therefore, students should review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the assignment criteria and expectations for successful completion of the assignment. You are required to submit this assignment to Turnitin. Refer to the directions in the Student Success Center. Only Word documents can be submitted to Turnitin.

Course-wide instructions that accompany this question

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS Discussion Questions (DQ) Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words. Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source. One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words. I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses. Weekly Participation Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately. In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies. Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work). Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week. APA Format and Writing Quality Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required). Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation. I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition. Use of Direct Quotes I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly. As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content. It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source. LopesWrite Policy For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me. Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes. Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own? Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score. Late Policy The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies. Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances. If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect. I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension. As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading. Communication Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class. Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

What the RFP must contain

01A 750-1,000 word RFP for an EHR hardware solution supporting the solution from the EHR Life Cycle Presentation.
02A brief cover letter of 100-150 words.
03A summary of the company's background information.
04Important dates and contact names or resources for questions.
05Requirements the hardware supplier is to support, including technical requirements such as operating system and network or interface needs.
06Marketing collateral and any supporting document requirements.
07Selection process requirements covering demonstrations, presentations, testing and installation, formatted as a standard RFP.