Integrated Information Technology: A Contradiction of Terms?...I really want to know!

I am often asked to evaluate organizations that have different clinical systems, financial systems, practice management and charge entry. These run the full range of top healthcare vendors. The question is normally the same: Should we be on the same platform across the enterprise or select from the best of each?

I think that vendors like to seize on clients that do not have their full product offering. Vendors like to make them think that they are not fully exploiting their system’s capabilities or that they can not fully support them because they rely on other systems.

I see some vendors like religious affiliations. They expect you to live and breathe the brand, drink the kool-aid, and never again blasphemy by mentioning another vendor’s name.

I guess I am agnostic when it comes to vendors, and I can see both sides of the argument; “Best of Breed” or “Total Enterprise” System. However, when you have the same vendor across your enterprise, don’t you still interface within the same product? I really would like to hear from folks that have encountered issues with either scenario.