A hospital has a committee, not a decision-maker
At many hospitals, a new clinical product goes to a value analysis committee before anyone can use it. According to symplr, reps must show the committee that the product is better both clinically and financially.
symplr also says physician-preferred items make up 40% to 60% of a hospital's supply costs. Procurement may sign the contract, but clinicians steer what gets bought. Contacting only the signers leaves nobody to carry your case.
Every hospital purchase has four roles. One person can hold more than one, and small facilities often do.
| Role | What they do | Typical titles | What they need from you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Champion | Owns the problem and carries your case inside | Director of Surgical Services, VP of Revenue Cycle, Chief Nursing Officer | Proof it fixes their problem, and an easy pilot |
| Evaluator | Tests fit, safety and cost | Value analysis lead, materials manager, clinical informatics, clinical engineering | Clinical or technical evidence, peer references |
| Gatekeeper | Can stall the deal late | CISO, compliance officer, general counsel, risk manager | Security documents, policy mapping, clean contract terms |
| Budget owner | Funds and signs | CFO, COO, CEO, CIO | Payback, risk and fit with strategy |
Contact them in this order: champion, evaluators, gatekeepers, then the budget owner.
Step 1: Start from the problem, not the org chart
Ask which function feels the pain your product removes. The title follows from the function. The first contact is rarely the most senior person:
| If you sell | Contact first | Then bring in | Budget owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue cycle management software | VP of Revenue Cycle | Director of Patient Financial Services, Director of Patient Access | Chief Financial Officer |
| Cybersecurity & compliance technology | Chief Information Security Officer | Director of Information Security, Director of IT Infrastructure & Operations | Chief Information Officer |
| Surgical devices & implants | Director of Surgical Services | Director of Value Analysis, Chief Medical Officer | Chief Financial Officer |
| Medical imaging & radiology equipment | Director of Imaging | VP of Facilities & Construction, Director of Clinical Engineering | Chief Financial Officer |
| Medical-surgical supplies & consumables | VP of Supply Chain | Director of Materials Management, Director of Value Analysis | Chief Financial Officer |
| Nurse & allied health staffing | Chief Nursing Officer | Chief Human Resources Officer, Director of Talent Acquisition | Chief Operating Officer |
| Ambient documentation & AI scribes | Chief Medical Officer | Chief Nursing Officer, Chief Medical Information Officer | Chief Information Officer |
The exception is small organizations. At a small rural hospital, a surgery center or a group practice, one administrator is often both champion and buyer, so start there.
Step 2: Find out who owns the hospital
According to the AHA, there are about 6,100 hospitals in the US, and about 70% of community hospitals belong to a health system. When a hospital is part of a system, standards for technology, supplies and vendors are often set at the system level. The local director can describe the problem, but the system team may own the contract.
A hospital's website footer or About page usually names the parent system, and CMS's Hospital General Information file lists its ownership type. On the first call, ask: "Is this decided here, or at the system level?"
For a system, win one hospital with a champion who has real numbers, then take those numbers to the system committee. For an independent hospital, the local team usually decides and cycles are shorter.
Step 3: Pick accounts by geography, not just by size
Four states (Texas, California, Florida and Ohio) hold about 25% of US community hospitals. For Critical Access Hospitals, the small rural hospitals that stand in for the rural market, the top four are Texas, Iowa, Kansas and Minnesota, and they hold 24% of the nation's 1,386 (Becker's, from CMS data, November 2025).
Iowa has 82 Critical Access Hospitals and New York has 21, so the same rural pitch needs very different territories. CMS has also awarded $50 billion across all 50 states through the Rural Health Transformation Program, about $10 billion a year from 2026 through 2030. Rural hospitals in funded states are shopping for technology, staffing and care coordination.
Step 4: Keep the committee small
A hospital buying committee is a handful of people covering the four roles. Emailing every executive burns the account. Pick a champion, one or two evaluators, the gatekeepers who will review your product, and the budget owner.
Clinicians often work at more than one hospital or practice, so build your list by person, not by facility, to avoid contacting the same clinician twice.
Step 5: Find the actual names
Use more than one source. Each has blind spots.
| Where to look | What you get | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| Hospital leadership page | Current executives, sometimes department heads | Rarely lists directors, and goes stale |
| IRS Form 990 (free on ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer) | Officers, directors and key employees of nonprofit hospitals | Lags by a year or more, and nonprofits only |
| Board packets and minutes | Vendor approvals, renewals, capital plans and who presented them | Public and district hospitals only. Read the consent agenda |
| Job postings | Reporting lines ("reports to the CNO") and tools already in use | Titles can be generic |
| Press releases and trade news | New hires and promotions, often within weeks | Skews toward the C-suite |
| Conference speaker lists | Directors who are active in their field | Not everyone speaks |
| Titles, tenure and connections | Self-reported, so verify | |
| A phone call | The truth: "Who handles this?" | Time |
Job postings confirm reporting lines. A posting for a "Revenue Cycle Analyst" that says "reports to the Director of Revenue Cycle" gives you both the title and who it reports to.
Step 6: Sequence the outreach
Open with the champion, and make the first message specific to their problem. Add evaluators once the champion is engaged, send gatekeepers their documents before they ask, and bring in the budget owner with the case already built. A first message looks like this:
Subject: {Specific problem} at {Hospital}
Hi {First name},
I saw {Hospital} {specific signal, such as a new surgical tower}. Teams in that spot often hit {problem} within the first year. We helped {peer hospital} cut {metric} by {number} in {timeframe}.
Would a 20-minute walkthrough make sense, or is someone on your team closer to this?
{Your name}
The last line lets the champion pass you along, which is how you find the evaluators and the budget owner.
Step 7: Keep the list fresh
Treat any contact older than a quarter as unverified. Before each outreach wave, check the last 90 days of news and job postings for each account. Keep a one-page committee card per hospital: champion, evaluators, gatekeepers, budget owner, and the date each was last verified.
Mistakes that burn good accounts
- Calling the CEO first. They'll forward it, and then nobody owns it.
- Ignoring the system. You win the hospital and lose to a system contract.
- Single-threading. One contact leaves, and the deal dies with them.
- Pitching features to finance. Finance wants payback. Clinicians want outcomes.
- Treating every "Director" as a buyer. Many directors can recommend but not buy.
- Skipping the gatekeepers. Security and compliance reviews can add months. Send documents early.
Frequently asked questions
How do you find decision-makers at a hospital?
Start with the function that owns the problem you solve, then find who leads it at each hospital. Check the hospital's leadership page, IRS Form 990 for nonprofits, board minutes for public hospitals, job postings and press releases. Confirm the name with a phone call, and add evaluators and the budget owner once your first contact is engaged.
Who is the decision-maker for buying hospital software?
Usually no one, alone. The department that owns the problem champions it, IT and security review it, and finance or the COO funds it. Which one you call first depends on the problem you solve.
Who decides what medical devices and supplies a hospital buys?
Several groups, in sequence. Clinicians state their preferences, a value analysis committee reviews the product, and supply chain negotiates the contract, often through a group purchasing organization (GPO). According to symplr, physician-preferred items make up 40% to 60% of a hospital's supply costs, so clinicians carry real weight.
What titles should I target at a hospital?
It depends on what you sell. Contact the leader of the function that owns the problem first: VP of Revenue Cycle for revenue cycle software, Director of Surgical Services for surgical devices, VP of Supply Chain for supplies, Chief Nursing Officer for staffing, Chief Information Security Officer for cybersecurity. Then bring in evaluators and the budget owner, often the CFO. The table in Step 1 covers more products.
What is a champion in hospital sales?
The person who owns the problem your product solves and carries your case inside the hospital. It is usually a director or VP in the affected department, such as the VP of Revenue Cycle for billing software. A champion rarely holds the budget. The budget owner, often the CFO or COO, signs once the case is built.
How many people are involved in a hospital purchase?
Usually a handful, spread across four roles: champion, evaluator, gatekeeper and budget owner. Small facilities often compress that into two or three people.
Should I contact the hospital CEO?
Rarely first. At small and rural hospitals the CEO or administrator is often the buyer. Everywhere else, treat them as the last step, once a champion has made the case.
How do I get a meeting with a hospital executive?
Unless it is a small hospital, skip the CEO and write to the person who owns the problem. Make the first message specific to a problem that role has, and end with a question that lets them pass you along, such as "Is someone on your team closer to this?" Once your champion is engaged, add evaluators, send gatekeepers their documents early, and bring in the budget owner last.
What is a value analysis committee?
A group that reviews new clinical products before a hospital adopts them. Per symplr, reps must show the committee that the product is superior both clinically and financially.
What is a group purchasing organization (GPO)?
A GPO negotiates supply and service contracts for many hospitals, and members buy from those contracts. A JAMA Health Forum study found Vizient, HealthTrust and Premier were the primary GPO for 84.1% of the US hospitals it analyzed in 2024. If a GPO contract already covers your category, expect the hospital's supply chain team to start there.
Do health systems and independent hospitals buy differently?
Yes. In 2024, 3,567 of 5,121 US community hospitals (about 70%) belonged to a health system, according to the AHA. At a system, technology, supplies and vendors are often set centrally, so a local win may still need system sign-off. An independent hospital's local team usually decides, and cycles are shorter.
How do I find out if a hospital is part of a health system?
Check the hospital's website footer or About page, which usually names the parent system. CMS's Hospital All Owners file also lists the owners of each hospital's Medicare enrollment, including organizations. Or ask on the first call: "Is this decided here, or at the system level?"
Who makes buying decisions at a small or rural hospital?
Often the CEO or administrator, who may be both champion and buyer. Start there and ask who else needs to approve. The AHA counts 1,797 rural community hospitals, so this is a large part of the market.
How many hospitals are there in the US?
About 6,100, according to the AHA's 2024 Annual Survey, including 5,121 community hospitals. CMS's Hospital General Information file, which powers the download on this page, lists 5,354 hospitals in the 50 states and DC. The two sources count hospitals differently.
Where do I get a list of every US hospital?
CMS publishes one for free as the Hospital General Information file, with each hospital's name, address, county, phone, type and ownership. The Download hospital list button at the top of this page gives you that data sorted by state and hospital name, with an All hospitals tab and a tab for each state.
How often do hospital executives change?
Often enough that lists go stale. Challenger, Gray & Christmas counted 111 hospital CEO exits in 2025, up 7% from 104 in 2024. Treat any contact older than a quarter as unverified, and check recent news and job postings before each outreach wave.
The bottom line
Hospitals buy by committee. Start with the person who owns the problem, check who owns the hospital, work the committee in order, and keep your data fresh.
Sources
- AHA, Fast Facts on U.S. Hospitals (hospital counts, rural hospitals and system affiliation)
- KFF, Total hospitals by state (community hospital counts, AHA 2024)
- Becker's Hospital Review, Critical access hospitals by state (CMS data, November 2025)
- CMS, Rural Health Transformation Program awards
- symplr, Understanding the hospital value analysis committee
- PAI-Avalere, Physician employment trends and practice acquisitions, 2018 to 2026
- KFF, Certified nursing facilities by state
- KFF, Medicare-certified providers by state (home health agencies, hospices)
- Becker's ASC Review, Number of ASCs by state (ASCA data)
- CMS, Hospital General Information (source of the downloadable list)
- JAMA Health Forum, Consolidation of Hospital Affiliations With Group Purchasing Organizations (2026)
- Becker's Hospital Review, Hospital CEO exits climbed 7% in 2025 (Challenger, Gray & Christmas data)
- CMS, Hospital All Owners (ownership of each hospital enrollment)
- ProPublica, Nonprofit Explorer (IRS Form 990 filings)