1. Case Study Infographic
2. Case Study Deeper Dive

Executive Summary

When a mid-sized technology consulting firm decided to start selling into hospitals and healthcare systems, they needed more than a pitch deck. They needed a plan. Scott Stamper, Managing Principal of Acivica, was brought in to build a solution architecture, sales approach, and solution set from the ground up — purpose-built for one of the most complex, regulated, and rapidly changing markets around. The result was a 75% win rate in the first 12 months, $350,000 in average revenue per client, and every single project going live.

The Challenge

Healthcare was in the middle of a massive shift. Hospitals were transitioning from fee-for-service to outcomes-based payment models, driven largely by the Affordable Care Act. That meant hospital systems suddenly had to get serious about things like HEDIS measures, outcomes measurement, and care coordination — areas most of them had never had to deal with before.

The problem wasn't just complexity. It was confusion. Hospitals weren't getting clear guidance from the government, and requirements were being driven contract by contract. Every hospital system was a little different, and none of them had a clear map for where they were going. They needed help, but they needed the right kind of help — not a generic solution or a one-size-fits-all approach.

Our Approach

Scott came in without assumptions. He talked to hospital customers first, listened hard, and built everything around what they actually needed. Here's how it came together:

Start by Listening, Not Pitching

• Scott's first move was to go talk to customers and find out exactly what they needed to see.
• This wasn't the moment for big creative swings. Hospital systems were dealing with confusing, exacting requirements that varied from contract to contract.
• What they needed was flexibility — a solution that could adapt to their specific situation, not one that forced them to adapt to it.
• Scott built that flexibility in as the cornerstone of the entire solution.

Put the Hard Problems Front and Center

• Working closely with practice leadership, sales leadership, and the delivery team, Scott crafted an end-to-end demo that didn't shy away from the tough stuff.
• He put the biggest risk points — the things that were giving hospital administrators nightmares — right at the front of every conversation.
• The message was clear: care coordination and bundled payment challenges don't get easier if you ignore them. You have to go in head first, with technology flexible enough to meet each challenge as it comes.
• To back that up, Scott built out demo scripts, pricing models, and collateral materials that all reinforced the same idea. Everything pointed in the same direction: this is hard, we know it's hard, and here's how we handle it.

Sell What You Can Actually Deliver

• One of the most important decisions Scott made was ensuring that the delivery plan and the sales process were tightly integrated from the start.
• In a market this complex, winning work you can't deliver isn't a win — it's a slow-moving disaster.
• So Scott worked with sales and delivery to make sure the statement of work and the project kickoff were aligned, and clients were told upfront: this is going to be difficult, because so much from the government is still undefined.
• Radical honesty wasn't a liability. It was the foundation of trust.

The Results:

The numbers were strong, but the story behind them matters just as much.

The Numbers

• 4 opportunities pursued in a 12-month period
• 3 of 4 won — a 75% win rate entering a brand new market
• Average engagement value: $350,000 per client
• All three won deals went live, either with prototypes or full solutions
• All three clients became references

Beyond the Bottom Line

• The firm successfully opened a healthcare vertical from scratch
• The solution architecture and deployment framework Scott built continued to be used after his engagement ended — creating durable value well beyond the initial work
• Every client going live meant no shelfware, no failed projects, no reputation risk
• A reference-ready client base gave the firm credibility for future healthcare pursuits

What Did Acivica Learn from This?

1. Listen before you build — the best solution isn't always the most creative one; sometimes it's the one that most precisely meets what the client actually needs
2. Flexibility is a feature — in markets where requirements are still evolving, the ability to adapt isn't a nice-to-have; it's the whole game
3. Lead with the hard stuff — clients trust you more when you don't pretend their problems are easy
4. Sales and delivery have to be one team — a deal you can't deliver is worse than no deal at all
5. Honesty accelerates trust — telling clients upfront that the work will be hard, and why, sets the right expectations and builds relationships that last

Conclusion

Breaking into healthcare wasn't about having the flashiest pitch or the biggest name. It was about doing the hard work of understanding what hospital systems were actually dealing with, building a solution honest enough to meet those challenges head on, and making sure every promise made in the sales process could be kept in delivery. Scott's approach turned a brand new market into a repeatable, reference-generating business — and left the firm with a framework that kept working long after the engagement was done.