It became apparent after last year's 100 was released that our product needed an upgrade. Considering some big players were missing, and others were reporting total revenues (instead of just HIT dollars), HCI needed some help on quality control and execution.
First off, the publication needed a partner with deep knowledge of the HIT vendor community, not only of today, but going back at least 10 years. This partner needed to know spin from reality and, most importantly, needed the skills to estimate revenues for companies that refrained from sharing. We approached Vince Ciotti — a good friend of the publication who has had a number of articles published with us — and his H.I.S. Professionals, LLC (HIS Pros) consulting firm. Lucky for us, Vince jumped at the idea and brought in his partner Bob Alcaro to help out.
HIS Pros first helped HCI staffers rewrite the survey, making it crystal clear what we were looking for. In fact, we received feedback from a number of vendors they were happy that confusion had been removed from the survey in favor of more clear and concise questions.
Then the consulting company provided Q.A. on the submitted numbers, estimating revenues for the “missing suspects,” that is, leading HIT firms that do not report revenue by market segments such as HIS, but yet are major players needed for comparisons. The HIS PROS also segmented the 100 into more recognizable market segments, such as “total HIS” vendors, consulting firms, ancillary department systems, and practice management system providers. In addition, many entries have ‘HIS Pros Revenue Streams’ information, which describes the main area where a company has generated cash.
HCI thanks Vince and Bob for the many hours they put into refining and improving our survey, and we hope it makes our 100 the valuable resource it was intended to be. Of course, we're always looking to make our products better, so please keep the feedback coming (aguerra@vendomegrp.com). — A.G.
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