Enterprise software analyst firm Technology Evaluation Centers (TEC) recently launched its Health Care Information Management Systems (HCIMS) Evaluation Center, to help health care professionals, consultants, and decision makers compare the most qualified HCIMS systems based on their own, unique priorities.

Governments and health care organizations “around the world have become increasingly interested in the potential contributions that health information technology, electronic connectivity, and a health information infrastructure can make to improve healthcare for their citizens” said Susan Penfield, vice president of Booz Allen Hamilton, and chairwoman of the eHI LIGHT Initiative (2005).

In response, software evaluation firm, Technology Evaluation Centers Inc. (TEC) (http://www.TechnologyEvaluation.Com/press) created its Health Care Information Management Systems (HCIMS) Evaluation Center (http://healthcare.technologyevaluation.com/) to help companies with the challenging process of selecting the right software solutions for the health care industry.

Health care information management systems provide a broad range of functionality concerning the management, collaboration, storage, processing, and auditing of biomedical information.

Wayne Thompson, director of research at TEC, (http://www.TechnologyEvaluation.Com/press) asserts that “increased demands in operational efficiency, customer service, and regulatory compliance are propelling health care organizations to the forefront of technology experimentation and adoption. However, few organizations have developed the necessary frameworks to evaluate properly the IT products and vendors.”

Before companies approach vendors for a request for proposal (RFP), TEC suggests companies engage in an on-line comparison of the leading solutions under consideration, in order to reduce the costs, time, and risks in the selection process.

According to the Standish Group (2005), 52.7 percent of IT projects cost 189 percent of the original estimates. This represents $75 billion (USD) yearly that is spent on failed IT projects in the United States alone. Organizations are losing billions of dollars each year because they select the wrong hardware, middleware, and software as a result of inadequate vendor information and evaluation processes. Such losses are increasingly apparent within price-sensitive, health care organizations, which require accurate IT information to be collected quickly and cost-effectively during software evaluation processes.

According to TEC, selections for supply chain management, resource planning, document management, or customer relationship management solutions may fail to accomplish what customers want, because organizations did not begin their selection processes with a good understanding of their requirements. TEC believes that problems arise when customers do not prepare a proper request for information (RFI) to evaluate the pertinent responses from their vendors. However, TEC states that its sophisticated means for performing requirements analysis will ease customers' selection burdens.

About Technology Evaluation Centers Inc. (TEC)

Technology Evaluation Center (TEC) (http://www.TechnologyEvaluation.Com/press) is a leading on-line source for impartial technology and consulting evaluations. TEC has been aiding software selection since 1993 to reduce the cost, risk, and time associated with software selection. It has twenty-four on-line technology evaluation centers, ranging from ERP, CRM, SCM, to business intelligence, that contain thousands of detailed criteria on over 500 technology solutions. TEC receives over 1.7 million visitors per month to its sites and millions of page views per month are generated by a global audience of senior c-level and VP executives, technology and functional managers, consultants, and IT professionals.

For more information, see the company's web site http://www.TechnologyEvaluation.com/press.

About the Health Care Information Management Systems Evaluation Center

The Health Care Information Management Systems (HCIMS) Evaluation Center (http://healthcare.technologyevaluation.com/press) is a new on-line decision support system featuring research on the most well-known solutions providers in HCIMS. The knowledge base comprises various models for analyzing health care information management solutions providers.

The TEC HCIMS Evaluation Center (http://healthcare.technologyevaluation.com/press) will grow to include a broad range of criteria that cover resource planning, computerized patient records, laboratory information systems, pharmacy information management, document management, time and attendance, help desk, and hospital information management systems. Regulatory compliance and technical standards will also be included.

For more information, see the web site at http://healthcare.technologyevaluation.com/.