Top three ways to ensure that your mobile medical clinic doesn’t end up over-built or under-built.

COVID-19 has brought a fresh interest in mobile medical clinics. Clients who may have only thought about a mobile medical clinic in the abstract, have now begun putting the plans in place to get one built for their medical facility. Private practitioners, large hospital systems, and public health agencies have all submitted RFPs to La Boit in the past few months looking for a quote. It’s sad to say that even if those clients have had a mobile medical clinic built in the past, the RFPs are often lacking.

We understand the need for a request for proposal process. At La Boit Specialty Vehicles, we ourselves have used an RFP on occasion to engage with vendors. However, when building a high-investment, complex product such as a mobile medical clinic, we feel that the RFP process sometimes works against organizations getting the right solution.

Some organizations must follow strict guidelines in getting the RFP’s out and not communicate with the potential vendors. It also tends to lean heavy on price, as if mobile medical clinic manufacturers are all building and selling the same exact widget. This is obviously not the case. Every builder builds them differently, which makes an apples to apples comparison nearly impossible.

The average mobile medical/dental clinic or bloodmobile is filled with thousands of parts and dozens of systems. There is a lot of detail that goes into every clinic. Unfortunately, oftentimes when we receive an RFP, we need to make a lot of assumptions to get the quote completed. And considering the level of investment required for a mobile medical clinic, we want to make sure that we deliver the right product. We don’t want to over-build or under-build a client’s mobile clinic.

That’s why we’ve put together a few suggestions that will hopefully make your next mobile medical clinic RFP process go much more smoothly and ensure the right result.

Let the individuals who will actually be working in the truck take the lead.

We always recommend that the clinical staff that will be working on board the clinic be involved in the planning and design stage. We receive a lot of inquiries in which the person creating the RFP doesn’t really have a full grasp on what they’re asking for, from CEOs and COOs to medical assistants and office managers. It’s rare that we get to speak to the person that will be on-board using the mobile clinic day-to-day. If this person could spend 20-30 mins on the phone going over what they really plan to do with the coach, we could deliver a customized quote that would actually solve their needs and reduce the potential for waste.

Talk it over with your sales consultant.

At La Boit Specialty Vehicles, we are not car salesman. Our sales team are truly consultants who do their best to help clients get the right solution, regardless of the industry. This is where our 40 years of experience shines through. No matter your needs, we’ve probably built it.

When a client schedules a call with a La Boit consultant, we can ask pointed questions that will give us a more precise picture of the clinic’s function and its place in their overall business. This highly-important step shouldn’t be skipped.

When clients speak with a La Boit consultant, they typically get a unit that really meets their needs because of the Q & A we’ve had over the phone in the planning stages. This really reduces the chance for buyer’s remorse. If they don’t take the time to talk it out with a professional, they may ultimately find out that the unit is too big, too small, or maybe just not the right furniture or equipment to suit its purpose.

Visit the manufacturing facilities.

Ultimately, a visit to the factory is the best possible way for clients to ensure they can trust who is building their new mobile clinic. Since this is one of the most labor intensive parts of a client’s due diligence, we suggest narrowing down the vendors using the first and second recommendations, and then touring only the top two or three choices.

There is a lot of detail that goes into every mobile we build, and a “words on paper” RFP often misses critical details about the design and build process.

At La Boit Specialty Vehicles, we want to EARN your business through a value-add consultative approach. We want you to be happy for years to come so you return and refer others to us. Let us help guide you through the entire RFP process and craft the perfect mobile clinic for you.

About La Boit Specialty Vehicles

La Boit Specialty Vehicles president Gil Blais first started La Boit in his garage in 1981, where he hand-made organizational boxes for traveling veterinarians. Fast forward to today, La Boit Specialty Vehicles is now a leader in specialty vehicle manufacturing for the Veterinary, Spay/Neuter/Adoption, Dental, Medical, Command, and Bloodmobile industries.

La Boit Specialty Vehicles offers a variety of vehicles to suit your needs, from 18ft pull-behind trailers to 40ft drivable coaches, none of which require a CDL to drive. Best of all, our vehicles are commercially-built from the chassis up for your specific needs, and are never converted RVs.

Mission Statement

Helping professionals around the world confidently deliver a higher level of service to their local markets by providing the highest quality custom mobile units in the industry!

We welcome your feedback and questions. Please contact us anytime or leave a comment below.