HIMSS Online Buyer’s Guide brings providers and suppliers together

With providers poised to invest in health IT to receive the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s financial incentives, HIMSS introduced in February its HIMSS Online Buyer’s Guide, a Web-based tool designed to bring providers and suppliers together.

The searchable database, which is free to healthcare organizations, gives providers a comprehensive 24/7 tool to identify, evaluate and select products and services that will help them build their healthcare IT infrastructure.

“The intent of the HIMSS Online Buyer’s Guide is to be more than a static directory of HIT vendors,” said Thomas Sharpe, vice president of HIMSS Marketing. “It is meant to be a tool that facilitates the process of connecting providers with those vendors who offer the products and services they need in order to become meaningful users of health IT.”

The database includes vendor information and product summaries, key sales contacts, markets, business partners, operating requirements, product and service comparisons, features/functions and product testimonials. HIMSS Online Buyer’s Guide users can easily request additional information from fully listed companies using the built-in RFI tool. Product data integrity is assured, as vendor information is reviewed and validated by HIMSS Analytics™ for meeting category specifications.

“The HIMSS Online Buyer’s Guide offers benefits for both sides of the equation,” Sharpe said. “For providers, it offers an efficient method for gathering information, making comparisons, and contacting vendors. For HIT vendors, it offers an effective vehicle for communicating information about their offerings and organizations, and for identifying qualified prospective customers.”

The HIMSS Online Buyer’s Guide also lists products by exhibit floor categories of the HIMSS Annual Conference & Exhibition. Providers can identify companies as HIMSS exhibitors, new product launches, first-time exhibitors and participants of the Interoperability Showcase.

“Given the unprecedented financial incentives available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and the opportunities now being presented to the provider community to invest more in health IT, the need for a tool of this nature couldn’t be greater,” Sharpe said. “HIMSS as a recognized leader in healthcare IT with deep relationships throughout the industry is uniquely positioned to introduce this valuable resource to the marketplace.”

For more information, contact onlinebuyersguide@himss.org, or access the HIMSS Online Buyer’s Guide online from your own desktop or at HIMSS09.

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