As we celebrate our 30th year publishing Health Management Technology (HMT) magazine, we're beginning a new chapter.
We'd like to wish Ken Anderberg, our former publisher and editorial director, all the best in his future endeavors.
And we'd like to welcome back our new publisher and executive editor, Kristine Russell.
Kristine is a former publisher of HMT, and has a great deal of experience in the publishing industry. She has been very involved in healthcare informatics since the early 1990s, and has worked with a number of HIMSS special-interest groups since 1994. Kristine is also the publisher of Healthcare Purchasing News magazine (www.hpnonline.com), an industry leader for more than 33 years.
Since we are embracing change, it seems the perfect time to take a long look at our recent reader survey, and let our readers tell us how to make a good magazine even better.
According to the survey, one-third of our readers have been with us for five years or more. We would like to assure all of our readers that we will continue to feature items that you have told us are valuable to you, including case studies, technology trend discussions and information on new products and services.
The survey confirms that our audience is extremely stratified, representing IT networks supporting less than 50 to more than 10,000 users. Almost two-thirds of those readers surveyed save copies of HMT for future reference. And by packing into each issue even more valuable information, we plan on making the magazine too valuable a resource to throw away.
An overwhelming majority (82 percent) of readers surveyed shared articles, ads or ideas with others. And almost half (42 percent) visited an advertisers Web site after seeing that company's ad in HMT.
Feature articles are the most popular content in both the printed magazine and on HMT's recently revamped Web site (www.healthmgttech.com). We'll augment our content with at least one new monthly feature on a variety of pertinent topics, written in-house by yours truly. In these original pieces, we will hear from many voices, experts from several vendor companies, hospitals and C-suite executives.
In this issue, we proudly present our annual resource guide. Keeping with that theme, our feature story this month offers tips on purchasing EMRs/EHRs; our reader survey indicates almost half of respondents are involved in the purchasing process of an electronic records system.
Since purchasing EMRs/EHRs is on the horizon for so many, we'll continue our coverage next month, when HMT presents an exclusive look at the 2010 MSP/Andrew EMR Benchmark and EMR Constructor, which helps users navigate the EMR adoption process.
And so, until next month, from all of us here at HMT, here's wishing you good healthcare IT.
