Printable hospital template
Hospital software requirements brief before a demonstration
Describe your staff, devices and key hospital workflows in a practical brief, so a software demonstration can answer the questions that matter to your team.
- Written by
- RizCare
- Published
- Last reviewed
RizCare's suggested worksheet. Adapt to your hospital. https://riz.care/library/templates/clinic-software-requirements-brief
For hospital owners and staff leading a software purchase.
Ask the receptionist what happens when a returning patient has no folder card. That answer gives a software supplier more to demonstrate than a request for patient management. Complete this brief with the staff doing the work, including the exceptions they need help handling.
Use the same version for each software provider. Share blank or fictional examples and the hospital's operational requirements; leave patient records out. Separate essential requirements from preferences so a missing preference does not hide a failure on an essential task.
Print this page or save it as a PDF from your browser. The print layout contains only the blank worksheet and its completion note. Fill it in within your hospital.
Practice: ____________________ Prepared by: ____________________ Date: ______________
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Hospital type / work points | |
| Roles / simultaneous users | |
| Devices available | |
| Connectivity / printing needs | |
| Training owner / proposed start | |
| Essential data export requirement |
| Requirement | Essential or preferred | Fictional scenario | Evidence / follow-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blank entry | |||
| Blank entry | |||
| Blank entry | |||
| Blank entry |
Keep completed copies with the staff authorised to use them.
How to use it
Describe the hospital as it works today
List work points, roles and how many people need access at the same time. Include devices already available, printing needs and the periods when connectivity is unreliable. Use counts you have checked. Do not assume that every member of staff has a personal laptop or that a phone can print to the hospital's printer.
Turn needs into observable demonstrations
For each essential workflow, state an outcome and a way to see it. For example: register a fictional returning patient without creating a duplicate; record two part payments against one invoice; receive an external report and identify who will review it. Ask the provider to show what happens when a step cannot be completed.
Include training and continuity
Name the staff who will practise the workflow and the person supporting them after setup. Ask what works if internet access fails, which records are available and what must be prepared in advance. Record any need for a local server, network equipment or recurring support.
The Lagos primary-care implementation study discusses infrastructure, training, funding and sustainability. It does not establish a price or outcome for a private hospital. It supports including these practical implementation questions in the brief.
Record a decision boundary
For each essential need, record demonstrated, needs follow-up or does not fit. State the evidence required to close a follow-up, who will obtain it and by when. An answer supplied verbally should not silently become a contractual promise. Ask how records can be exported and what assistance or fees apply when leaving.
What each field means
- Work point and role
- Describe what the person does during the hospital day. Job titles alone do not establish who registers patients, records receipts, reviews reports or approves changes.
- Essential requirement
- A task the hospital must be able to complete. Mark it essential because your workflow depends on it, not because a software brochure includes the same phrase.
- Demonstration scenario
- A short fictional case with an observable result. Include an awkward case, such as a shared family phone or a part payment crossing two shifts.
- Devices and connectivity
- Identify device types, operating arrangements and outage conditions the provider should demonstrate. Do not accept the word offline without asking what staff can actually read and save.
- Evidence and owner
- Record what was shown, the unanswered question and the person responsible for checking it. A completed brief should make the next decision clearer to the whole buying team.
Completed fictional example
The hospital and needs are fictional. The table sets questions for a demonstration and makes no claim that a named product satisfies every requirement.
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Hospital type / work points | Fictional small outpatient hospital / reception, nursing, consulting |
| Roles / simultaneous users | Reception, nurse, doctor, billing / confirm in demonstration |
| Devices available | Mixed phones and one laptop |
| Connectivity / printing needs | Intermittent internet; printed receipt workflow to demonstrate |
| Training owner / proposed start | Practice manager / date to agree |
| Essential data export requirement | Usable patient and billing export; format and assistance to confirm |
| Requirement | Essential or preferred | Fictional scenario | Evidence / follow-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Part payments | Essential | One bill, cash then bank transfer | Show remaining balance and receipt history |
| External reports | Essential | Report returns while ordering clinician is away | Show receipt and review ownership |
| Receipt printing | Preferred | Print from the intended device | Demonstrate with supported printer |
Related resources
Sources and review
The worksheet design and examples are RizCare's recommendations. The sources below support the background discussion; they do not endorse this form.
- Implementing Electronic Health Records in Primary Care Using the Theory of Change: Nigerian Case Study (JMIR Medical Informatics). Read 9 September 2026.