Our June issue, containing the annual HCI 100 survey is always an eagerly anticipated installment - and each year we continue to make it more relevant. This year, for example, when considering who were the most interesting HIT vendors, we put it to a vote - by you, our readers. We took your top three choices and profiled them, beginning with anthenahealth. Read our profile, page 60, to see how the company's Web-driven technological backbone has put it in a unique position in the physician group software-based services niche.
We also profile Siemens, page 64, and look at how the Germany-based parent company's executives believe their long-term vision of integrating imaging and diagnostics with a strong health IT platform will pay dividends in an era when people may soon have their entire genetic sequence mapped for $100. Besides rolling out the Soarian platform, Siemens also has made several acquisitions in the diagnostics field, including Dade Behring, Diagnostic Products Corp., and Bayer Diagnostics. Overall, Siemens Healthcare now has 13 product lines in 30 countries.
Also profiled is Burlington, Mass.-based Nuance Communications, Inc., on page 68. After spending $357 million to acquire the Stratford, Conn.-based Dictaphone Corporation in February 2006, Nuance moved to integrate the two companies' offerings, expand its platform, and move to capture maximal market share. The core of its offerings remains Dragon Naturally Speaking voice-recognition technology, which has gone through multiple releases and enhancements. That product alone has 100,000 users in North America, Nuance executives say. What's more, they estimate that over 20 percent of physicians in North America are using their solutions, while they count over 3,000 acute-care hospitals as customers.
Finally, check out our signature revenue ranking, the heart of any HCI 100 package, on page 20. But don't forget, we round out our coverage with an excellent article on M&A (page 56) recapping what was a less-than-stellar year for activity in that market.
Healthcare Informatics 2009 June;26(6):10
