Healthcare runs on systems that can't fail quietly. A breach, a compliance gap, or an AI pilot that skips change management doesn't just cost money. In this industry, it costs more than anywhere else, and it costs trust that's hard to rebuild.

Healthcare carries the highest stakes of any industry, by a wide margin. The average cost of a healthcare data breach is $7.42 million, the highest of any industry tracked, for the 14th consecutive year. At the same time, physician AI adoption is accelerating fast: 66% of physicians used AI in their practice in 2024, up from 38% the year before, a 78% jump in twelve months. Adoption is outrunning governance, which is exactly where the risk concentrates.

Sources: IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report 2025, via HIPAA Journal ↗ · American Medical Association survey ↗

What Our Healthcare IT Practice Covers

Healthcare IT strategy and roadmap: EHR integration planning, payer/provider operations, and interoperability.
HIPAA-aware AI adoption: deploying AI in clinical or operational workflows without creating a compliance liability. See our AI Governance practice.
Salesforce Health Cloud implementation, including state and federal program experience. See our Salesforce & Agentforce practice.
Change management that actually gets clinical and operational staff to use what's built, instead of stalling in a pilot.
Stakeholder advisory for hospital systems, health tech startups, and payer organizations navigating a technology transition.

Why Tristella

This practice is anchored by Myra Salapare, who holds a BSN, an MS in Health Administration, and a PhD in Organizational Management, paired with a decade in healthcare IT customer success and operations, including interoperability, telehealth, and AI-enabled senior care. Velma McConnell's Salesforce Health Cloud experience on state and federal government programs extends directly into this practice for organizations that need clinical fluency and Salesforce depth in the same room.

How Engagements Work

Engagement	What's Included	Fee
Paid Discovery & Assessment	Full current-state assessment across tech strategy and Salesforce org; prioritized roadmap (2–4 weeks)	$8,000–$15,000
Healthcare IT Consultant Retainer	16–40 hrs/month: compliance reviews, EHR planning, stakeholder advisory, documentation	$8,000–$15,000/mo
Salesforce Health Cloud Implementation	Health Cloud setup, EHR integration, HIPAA configuration, staff training (10–18 weeks)	$60,000–$150,000

All project fees require a signed Statement of Work. Nonprofits and mission-driven organizations receive a 10–15% discount on all engagements.

If you're evaluating whether to build in-house or bring in outside help, the discovery assessment is designed to give you an honest answer either way.