In 13 years of providing resuscitation training, we reviewed, applied for, and won many RFP-based contracts. Here's what we learned about writing a solid one.
Over those years we identified a list of best practices for creating a strong RFP or RFQ for services in the resuscitation and first-aid industry. To keep it simple, here are the top ten on our list of vendor must-haves.
1. Do you require American Heart Association (AHA) credentials?
You may have internal requirements for AHA credentials, or ties to county, state, or national requirements that necessitate a valid AHA-issued card. Distinguish between "valid" and "meets requirements." Valid means the card is issued on behalf of the AHA by a training center or training site. Many companies teach courses with the same content as an AHA course, but the card they issue is not issued by the AHA — and it won't satisfy a requirement that specifies an AHA card. If you don't require AHA credentials, it serves you well to ask for an equivalency; the training center will have more freedom to control cost if you let them shop several products.
2. Require your vendors to be a Training Center.
Years ago the Heart Association moved to a training-center model that empowers Authorized Training Centers to operate autonomously. Smaller providers must work through a Training Center as a "Training Site" — the AHA doesn't work with them directly. In most cases you'll want to limit your RFP to Training Centers (and require their AHA Training Center number). They're typically larger, with continuity of service, demonstrated AHA compliance, and the financial resources and scalability to handle your requirements. Not a blanket rule — there are always exceptions — but a good default.
3. Let go of the "intellectual property" ownership clause.
It's almost boilerplate in RFPs, and it's a problem: vendors don't own the third-party material they credential under, so they have no legal authority to grant you ownership of it. Anyone who agrees to is unaware of the legal obstacles. Instead, consider this language: "any material created specifically for [your entity]." When we created AMA PRA Category 1 Credit classes for a health system, that material was covered by the contract and became the property of the hospital.
4. Public offerings are a good thing.
The vendor should be able to open classes at your facility to the public and manage those reservations without troubling you. Reserving some seats for the public brings outside hospital and prehospital staff into your facility. It's a great way to network and recruit — and you don't do any of the work. Done right, you get a great vendor teaching great classes, and you get the credit.
5. Require course offerings off-site.
This one is big and seldom considered. For your program to succeed, employees need to be able to take classes off campus — at the vendor's place of business or other locations around the city. If someone has an emergency and misses a class, they should be able to catch another within a week at a different location. If you're willing to outsource, require your vendor to open space outside your facility.
6. Get references.
We often see requirements that instructors prove ten years of experience and current instructor status, sometimes with CVs attached. That may be necessary with a Training Site — but a large AHA Training Center is already in compliance and meets those requirements by default. Better to ask for corporate references: a list of current clients equal to or larger than your organization tells you a lot. Call them. Ask about customer service, flexibility, scalability, and response times. Ask for three or more. If you don't get glowing reviews, buyer beware.
7. Do they have insurance?
We live in a litigious age. One true benefit of a solid training partner is demonstrated document retention and training compliance, backed by robust coverage. When something unfortunate happens and attorneys get involved, you want a vendor carrying at least $1 million general liability and $3 million professional liability.
8. Don't forget about customer support.
Your vendor should have a proven process for registering students and a document-retention and access process in place — no small task. You want a partner who provides immediate phone support and a web-based portal with voucher codes to minimize the effort on your staff. If you need a class spun up in 24 hours, on-site or off, can your vendor make it happen?
9. Ask for more than basic CPR or AHA classes.
When you find the right partner, the positive impact shows up quickly — financial, operational, and risk. Clients soon start asking for Emergency Nurses Association courses like TNCC and ENPC, the Neonatal Resuscitation Program from the American Academy of Pediatrics, or custom classes that provide AMA PRA Category 1 Credit for physicians. Make sure your vendor can grow with you.
10. Partnerships are better than contracts.
When you meet your finalists, ask yourself: are these people partners? Are they responsive? Will they take on a project without hand-holding, offer advice to improve outcomes and reduce cost — will they make your problems their problems? One client was told all staff had to be ACLS-certified and asked for four extra night-shift classes in a month. We asked questions, dug into the requirement, and discovered the real need was to get everyone "crash-cart certified." We built that curriculum instead and saved them thousands.
On contracts: unless you have extreme requirements — training across multiple cities, real logistics investment — a contract term usually isn't necessary. We ran our agreements with no contract length; clients were free to leave anytime with 30 days to wind down scheduled classes. In this line of work, you're only as good as your last interaction.
These are big-ticket items that make a real difference in the long-term success of your program — and maximize the investment you make in choosing a training partner.
Originally published in 2015. Jason Price, then VP of Global Strategy at Cascade Training Center.