The CIOs who attended the Healthcare IT Summit in Palm Springs, Calif., listened with great interest to discussions from their peers, analysts and vendor partners on the topics that occupy their waking, working (and nonworking!) hours. They’ve gained new insights into the trends that will impact what new capabilities they’ll need to bring to their payer and provider organizations. As the healthcare industry experiences massive change and transformation in the near future, these CIOs will need to implement some new strategies.
The Healthcare Innovation Awards are prized by vendors attending the Healthcare IT Summit because today’s leading IT executives, who are invited to the event to participate in a review of each supplier’s technology and business value, vote on them. More than 125 CIOs from today’s leading hospital, doctor networks, and payer and insurance companies attended the event representing several billion dollars in IT buying power.
These CIOs have paid close attention to dozens of vendors who have tried to demonstrate to them the value of their products and services. After paying close attention to these value propositions and weighing all aspects of the presentations, these executives were asked to vote on the following 10 categories: Best Technology Solution-Insurer; Best Technology Solution-Provider; Best Case Study Presentation-Insurer; Best Case Study Presentation-Provider; Best Demonstration of Value/ROI-Insurer; Best Demonstration of Value/ROI-Provider; Best Emerging Vendor-Insurer; Best Emerging Vendor-Provider; and the sought-after Best of Show award for both insurers and providers. The Innovation Awards were voted on solely by the attending IT decision-makers, who directly influence their companies’ and their peers’ technology-buying decisions.
Among the event’s big winners were Good Technology and NPI, which captured top honors for Best of Show in the provider and payer categories. The awards were split between vendors who service hospitals and medical clinics, and those who focus on the payer or insurance organizations.
Dell Storage was selected as the Best Technology Solution-Provider as well as Best Case Study Presentation-Provider. Provider CIO attendees in the audience raved over the phenomenal presentations that Dell Storage gave throughout the event, so it was no wonder that it won the innovation award for Best Case Study Presentation for providers. Dell Storage does just as its name suggests—it stores your digital data. Its award-winning EqualLogic, PowerVault and Compellent storage options were quite the buzz among attendees.
F5 won Best Case Study Presentation-Insurer. Like Dell Storage, F5 gave some outstanding case study presentations throughout the event. Insurer CIO Attendees leaving their boardroom sessions after F5’s presentation were gossiping about F5’s solutions. “F5 helps organizations create an agile IT infrastructure that aligns with their business demands,” according to the company Web site.
El Dorado was selected as Best Demonstration of Value/ROI-Insurer. During the quick-fire presentations, El Dorado’s CEO, Tom Castleberry, rocked the stage with some great information about the company’s value and ROI. El Dorado, which is part of HP, is a health-benefits-management solutions company that caters to the payer community. Its legacy product is HealthPack, which services 75 customers; its flagship product is Havalina, which was recently announced in 2009.
Fortinet was selected as Best Emerging Vendor-Insurer. Fortinet is growing into a substantial emerging vendor for the insurer community. In reference to its quick-fire presentation given by Kevin Flynn, senior manager, product marketing, its solutions prepare healthcare insurer organizations for the future during these changing time in the industry. According to the company Web site, “Fortinet appliances and virtual appliances provide your health services network with scalable, comprehensive privacy protection for patient records and other sensitive information without degrading performance of critical applications, network availability or uptime.”
Sensage was selected as Best Emerging Vendor-Provider. Sensage is another emerging vendor, on the provider side, which has made a great impression on the attending IT leaders. Sensage helps organizations with security information and event management by offering real-time event management and historical analysis. Its IT teams collect, store, correlate and analyze event data to make your information secure and safe.
Good Technology was selected as the Best Technology Solution-Insurer as well as the Best In Show-Insurer. Good Technology has caught the attention of healthcare CIOs on the Insurer side of the industry and continues to make its mark. Winning both the Best Technology Solution and the coveted Best in Show awards has put Good Technology strongly on the map. As the healthcare industry continues to become more mobile, Good Technology offers complete mobile productivity and management solutions to enable users to access e-mail, calendars and contacts wherever their job takes them.
Finally, NPI was selected as Best Demonstration of Value/ROI-Provider and Best In Show-Provider. NPI’s presentations throughout the event were a big hit. Attendees share their opinions of how NPI can really help their organization. NPI takes a very specific approach to the healthcare IT provider market by focusing on the financial, and IT budgeting and spending aspects of organizations. It advises organizations on standardized cost control and implements more efficient IT spending plans. Especially in today’s economy, this type of solution is coveted by CIOs in all industries, so it is no surprise that attendees acknowledged and rewarded NPI for being on-point to their needs.
“The Best in Show award was a huge honor for NPI, especially given the caliber of executives we met during the conference and the pressure they’re under to make their organizations compliant and competitive, “ said John Winsett, CEO, NPI. “We were able to demonstrate that with the right vendor, intelligence and insight, they can achieve this goal while spending less and securing more favorable contract terms. It’s a welcome proof-point for those executives—and I think our award reflects that.”
IT executives in the healthcare space are an opinionated group whose judgments carry much weight in the industry. And with the Healthcare Innovation Awards, they get to make known their opinions of the vendors that should be honored for outstanding performance. It’s their opportunity to say who stands out for exceptional products, programs and technologies; it’s their chance to say who dazzled them the most.
They cast their votes for the vendors whose solutions they think can be counted on as important assets to any healthcare payer or provider team. Given the robustness of the healthcare IT market, especially during this critical time in the industry, it’s no wonder that the Healthcare Innovation Awards are so coveted by today’s leading vendors.
The awards were presented at a gala dinner at the Healthcare IT Summit, which brought together over 100 senior IT leaders, the analyst community, press and both leading and emerging technology vendors.
