Plenty of health-tech startups and healthcare organizations need senior technology leadership but cannot justify — or cannot yet find — a full-time CTO. A fractional CTO fills that gap: experienced healthcare technology leadership on a part-time, ongoing basis. Taction Software provides fractional CTO services for health-tech startups and healthcare organizations — technology strategy, architecture decisions, team building, compliance leadership, and board and investor communication — backed by a team that can also build what we recommend if you want it.
Schedule a Free Fractional CTO Fit Conversation (45 min) → (no obligation)
Senior healthcare technology leaders · HIPAA & healthcare credentials · references on request
When Fractional CTO Services Make Sense
Health-Tech Startup Without Senior Tech Leadership
Early-stage health-tech companies often have strong engineers but no senior leader to set technical direction, make architecture and build-vs-buy calls, and own compliance. A fractional CTO provides that without a full-time hire.
Healthcare Org With Vacant CTO Role
When a healthcare organization’s CTO role is vacant, a fractional CTO keeps technology decisions moving and the team supported rather than drifting.
Pre-Hiring Bridge for CTO Search
A fractional CTO can bridge a CTO search — leading in the interim, and even helping define and evaluate candidates for the permanent role.
Strategic Technology Decisions Need Senior Input
Sometimes the need is episodic but high-stakes — a major architecture decision, a platform bet, an audit. A fractional CTO brings senior judgment to those moments.
What Our Fractional CTO Services Include
Strategic Technology Leadership
Technology strategy and roadmap, architecture decisions, build-vs-buy decisions, and vendor and partner selection — the senior calls that shape everything downstream.
Team Building & Management
Engineering hiring support, engineering team coaching, and process and practice establishment so the team you have (and the team you build) performs.
Compliance & Risk Leadership
HIPAA and healthcare compliance leadership, security program oversight, and audit and certification strategy — drawing on our HIPAA-compliant development, HIPAA risk assessment, security audit, and ONC certification practices.
Board & Investor Communication
Board technology updates, investor due diligence support, and strategic communication that translate technology into terms boards and investors act on.
Engagement Models
We work in four common shapes: a monthly retainer (most common), project-based fractional CTO, bridge CTO during a search, and advisory CTO with equity for early-stage companies.
Time Commitments
We scale to the need: light (10–20 hours/month), standard (20–40 hours/month), heavy (40–80 hours/month), and full-time fractional for intensive periods.
Who We’re a Good Fit For
We are a strong fit for health-tech startups (pre-Series A through Series C), specialty practices building internal software, mid-market payers without a senior CTO, and healthcare investors needing CTO support for portfolio companies.
Pricing
Monthly Retainer Ranges
Retainers scale with the time commitment — from a few thousand dollars a month for light advisory up to the $15K–$30K/month range for heavy or near-full-time engagement.
Project-Based Fees
For episodic needs, we scope a fixed project fee rather than a retainer.
Equity Considerations for Early-Stage
For early-stage companies, we can structure part of the engagement as equity where it makes sense for both sides.
What Sets Our Fractional CTOs Apart
Our fractional CTOs are senior healthcare technology leaders with real backgrounds in healthcare software, compliance, and engineering leadership — not generalists learning healthcare on your time. We share specific CTO bios, credentials, and references during the fit conversation so you can evaluate the exact person who would lead your engagement.
Schedule a Free Fractional CTO Fit Conversation (45 min) →
Frequently Asked Questions
How is this different from consulting?
A consultant advises and leaves; a fractional CTO holds the leadership role — owning technology decisions, leading your team, representing technology to your board, and staying accountable over an ongoing engagement. It is leadership, not a report.
Can you also build the software you recommend?
Yes — and we are transparent about it. Having a team that can execute is an advantage, but the fractional CTO’s job is your best interest. We will tell you honestly when building with us is the right call and when it is not, and you are always free to use other vendors.
What about confidentiality and conflict of interest?
We work under confidentiality and are upfront about the potential conflict that comes with also being a development shop. We manage it by giving you independent, honest recommendations, disclosing where our interests could be involved, and never steering you toward work that does not serve you.
How long is a typical engagement?
Fractional CTO engagements are usually ongoing and measured in months to years, though bridge engagements during a CTO search are shorter by design. We right-size both the commitment and the duration to your situation.
Schedule a Free Fractional CTO Fit Conversation (45 min) →
Reviewed by Taction Software’s healthcare technology leadership team. ISO 27001-certified information security management. Engagements involving PHI are governed by a signed BAA — see our healthcare data security practice. Many fractional engagements begin with a discovery workshop.