A telemedicine RFQ does more than compare vendors. It shapes whether the selected solution can be deployed, adopted, managed, and expanded in the environments where care must actually be delivered.
In this webinar, 19Labs CEO Ram Fish and VP of Customer Success Messias Soares examine the requirements that matter most—and the specifications that can unintentionally narrow an organization into the wrong solution. Watch the discussion, use the editable RFQ template, and download the webinar slides to support your own procurement process.
Watch the Webinar
The conversation moves from a common procurement problem—a precise requirement that may answer the wrong question—to seven areas buyers should evaluate and the evidence vendors should be prepared to provide.
A Useful RFQ Starts with the Operating Reality
One of the clearest examples from the webinar was a requirement for a specific processor. It sounds precise, but it does not show whether a system can support the program's actual care models, connectivity conditions, diagnostic devices, workflows, workforce, or future expansion.
The better question is whether a vendor can demonstrate that the solution will work—and continue to work—in the environment the organization is building for.
Seven Areas a Telemedicine RFQ Should Evaluate
1. Use Cases, Diagnostic Devices, and Form Factors
Start with the care models the program must support rather than a fixed hardware configuration. Evaluate diagnostic-device compatibility and the form factors required for fixed sites, mobile kits, home visits, vehicle-based programs, and future specialties.
2. Real-Time, Asynchronous, and Offline Workflows
Connectivity and clinical workflow vary by location. Ask whether the solution supports scheduled visits, immediate consultations, asynchronous review, and offline data collection with later synchronization. Reliable bandwidth should not be assumed everywhere.
3. Usability and Training
“Easy to use” should not remain a subjective vendor claim. Ask vendors to demonstrate steps, response time, training requirements, and time to competency. Adoption and utilization determine whether the investment expands access or becomes unused infrastructure.
4. Remote Deployment Management
Distributed programs require the ability to configure, monitor, troubleshoot, and update deployments remotely. Administrative and IT visibility should be clearly separated from access to clinical and patient data.
5. Cybersecurity and Device Controls
Evaluate authentication, user roles, enterprise device management, patching, data protection, and the separation of operational administration from clinical information. Assess specific controls and practices rather than reducing cybersecurity to an operating-system label.
6. Business Models and Incentive Alignment
The commercial model affects vendor behavior after the initial sale. Ask how the vendor's incentives support implementation, utilization, issue resolution, continued improvement, and expansion—not simply equipment delivery.
7. Practical, Governed AI Integration
AI is already entering healthcare workflows. Evaluate where it is used, how organizational policies are applied, how data is handled, what clinical oversight remains, and whether it supports intake, interpretation, navigation, or decision-making without replacing appropriate human care.
Require Evidence, Not Only Feature Claims
Ask each vendor for a concise comparable deployment example that identifies:
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Operating environment and use cases
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Implementation timeline and milestones
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Costs and commercial model
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Obstacles and how they were resolved
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Adoption or utilization evidence
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Verifiable customer references
Relationship-building with vendors can help a procurement team understand the market. It should not replace a fair evaluation process. The objective is to determine whether the written proposal reflects real delivery capability.
Put The Lessons Into Practice
The editable telemedicine RFQ template translates the webinar's lessons into procurement language that organizations can copy and adapt for their geography, care model, regulatory environment, infrastructure, workforce, and implementation priorities.
The complete slide deck is also available for internal planning and procurement discussions.
Vendor-Agnostic Note
Although 19Labs created these resources as a telemedicine provider, the guidance is vendor-agnostic. It is intended to help any organization planning, drafting, or evaluating a telemedicine RFQ ask more useful questions and assess whether a proposed solution can work in practice.
Speakers
Ram Fish
19Labs Founder & CEO
Ram Fish is the Founder & CEO of 19Labs, where he leads the development and deployment of telemedicine infrastructure for rural and underserved communities. His 25-year technology career—including leadership experience at Apple, Nokia, and Samsung—brings a practical perspective on building complex systems that can move beyond pilots and operate at scale.
Messias Soares
VP of Customer Success
Messias Soares is VP of Customer Success at 19Labs, working directly with healthcare organizations and public-sector partners to translate telemedicine plans into successful deployments. His field experience spans rural communities and schools across the United States and Latin America, with a focus on the operational realities that determine whether programs are adopted and sustained.
FAQ
What should a telemedicine RFQ include?
A telemedicine RFQ should define required care use cases, diagnostic-device support, form factors, connectivity modes, usability and training expectations, remote management, cybersecurity controls, commercial alignment, AI governance, and evidence from comparable deployments.
How should an RFQ address limited connectivity?
Ask vendors to demonstrate scheduled, real-time, asynchronous, and offline workflows, including how data are collected, stored, synchronized, and protected when connectivity is unreliable.
What evidence should a telemedicine vendor provide?
Request a comparable-deployment summary with timeline, milestones, costs, challenges, outcomes, utilization evidence, and references the procurement team can verify.
Should a telemedicine RFQ specify particular hardware components?
Only when a component is genuinely necessary to meet an operational or clinical requirement. Overly prescriptive specifications can narrow the field without proving that a solution supports the workflows, devices, environments, and future expansion the program needs.
How can procurement teams evaluate ease of use?
Require a workflow demonstration and measurable evidence such as steps required for common tasks, system response time, training duration, time to competency, and adoption or utilization results from similar deployments.
How should AI be evaluated in a telemedicine RFQ?
Evaluate the intended use case, policy controls, data handling, clinical oversight, limitations, and how AI supports intake, interpretation, navigation, or decision-making. A generic “AI-enabled” checkbox is not enough.
