Budget pathways
Three documented ways to fund an ARKA pilot without a capital request — aligned to your fiscal calendar and regulatory readiness lines.
Pathway 1 — Departmental operating budget (default)
90-day pilot at a fixed fee sized for a single service line's operating authority — no capital committee required.
- Fee credited 100% toward the enterprise contract.
- Defined jointly up front; if the pilot misses it, month 1 of production is free (existing guarantee).
- Same CDS Hooks integration widens to enterprise scope — no re-implementation.
Pathway 2 — Regulatory / compliance program alignment
The Medicare Promoting Interoperability program adds an 'Electronic Prior Authorization' attestation measure for eligible hospitals and CAHs beginning with the CY 2027 EHR reporting period (finalized in CMS-0057-F). Payer Prior Authorization APIs go live January 1, 2027; payer decision clocks (72h expedited / 7 days standard) and specific-denial-reason requirements begin in 2026. Hospitals are budgeting readiness work for that transition now; ARKA's pilot fits those readiness lines because the same integration exercises CRD/DTR/PAS workflows end-to-end. Full hospital-side brief →
- The measure is attestation-based with defined exclusions; your quality/regulatory team should map applicability — our hospital-side brief (/compliance/cms-0057-f-hospital-brief) walks through it.
- Fund from interoperability, PI-readiness, or compliance program lines already budgeted for 2026–2027.
Pathway 3 — Phased / deferred structure
Split pilot fees across a fiscal-year boundary; align enterprise ramp pricing to value milestones at quarterly business reviews.
- QBR-gated tranche pricing ties expansion to measured KPI variance, not calendar alone.
- Deferred payment terms (net-60/90 or deferred-first-payment) — TG-9/TG-10 confirm what finance will honor.
Hospital fiscal years commonly start Jul 1, Oct 1, or Jan 1. Tell us yours; we time pilot start and invoice dates so the enterprise decision lands inside your budget-build window rather than after it.