Customer discovery interviews with hospital procurement: who to ask and what to ask

For customer discovery interviews with hospital procurement, talk to the people who make and block purchasing decisions at health systems: supply chain and procurement directors, the person who runs value analysis, someone who manages GPO contracts, and one or two clinicians who sit on product committees. Ask each of them about the last product their hospital added or turned down. Reach them with a short, specific paid invitation, and plan two rounds of about five conversations.

Hospital procurement is a small world with a lot of committees. The usual founder move, a LinkedIn note saying "I'm building something for hospital procurement, can we chat?", mostly gets silence. The fix is to know exactly whom to ask and what to ask them.

1. A hospital purchase involves more people than the procurement title suggests

Before you write a single invitation, map who touches a purchase. Three groups matter for most products.

Group purchasing organizations (GPOs). Many hospital purchases run through contracts negotiated by GPOs. A 2012 GAO report cited estimates from the GPO industry's trade group that about 72 percent of hospital purchases were made using GPO contracts and that hospitals use two to four GPOs on average. Those figures are old, so treat them as a sign of how central GPOs are, not a current market size.

Value analysis. Many health systems send new products through a value analysis committee that weighs clinical value against cost before anything is bought. AHRMM, the American Hospital Association's supply chain membership group, publishes guidance on how these committees decide what a medical device is worth.

Supply chain and procurement leaders. They run sourcing, contracts and vendor relationships. They are usually the people a vendor talks to first, and often the ones who explain why a product never made it past the committee.

So a useful first round covers at least one person from each group, plus a clinician who uses the kind of product you're building. Five people from the same department will tell you one department's view five times.

Short version: interview the decision, not the job title.

2. Find specific people, then pick by responsibility

Search for people by what they're responsible for. Titles mislead here: "Director of Supply Chain" at a 3-hospital system and at a 90-hospital system are different jobs.

These directory pages list hospital procurement and supply chain people you can browse and invite:

• Chief procurement officers in hospitals
• Chief supply chain officers in hospitals
• Hospital supply chain experts
• Procurement leaders at Kaiser Permanente, Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, CommonSpirit Health and Providence
• Experts on selling to hospitals, people who have sold into health systems and can explain the process from the vendor side
• CFOs in hospitals, for products whose case rests on cost

Industry groups such as AHRMM are useful for learning the vocabulary and meeting people at events. They are slower if you need ten conversations this month.

3. Ask about the last decision, not about your idea

Procurement people hear pitches all day. If your interview sounds like one, you'll get polite, useless answers. Ask about something that already happened:

• "Tell me about the last new product your team brought in. Who asked for it, and what happened next?"
• "What was the last product that was turned down? Who said no, and why?"
• "Was it on a GPO contract? If not, how did it get bought anyway?"
• "How long did it take from first request to first order?"
• "Who would have to agree before a product like [the category] could be trialed?"

Real stories show the actual approval path, which is what you need to know to sell. Opinions about your idea don't. The Mom Test explains the principle, and our customer discovery interview script has more questions.

4. Send a short paid invitation that names the decision

Here is a made-up example. Marcus is building software that tracks expiring surgical supplies. His invitation to a supply chain director reads:

"Hi Elena, I'm researching how hospitals handle supplies that expire on the shelf. You run supply chain for a multi-hospital system, so I'd like to ask how your team decides which inventory tools to trial and who signs off. A 15-minute call, no pitch."

On Instant Expert you can send that note with a paid offer for a 15, 30, 45 or 60 minute call. The offer is what the person receives, and our fee is added on top for you. You pay only if they book.

If someone can't accept outside payments, Instant Expert lets the recipient donate their payment to a charity they choose instead; your charge is the same.

5. Run two rounds of about five

Do five interviews, read your notes, then decide who to talk to next. The first round shows you who really owns the decision, and it may not be who you expected. Use the second round to talk to that person. How many customer interviews you need explains why small rounds beat one big batch.

Start by writing down the one purchase decision you want to understand. Then find one person from each of the groups above and invite them.