Superior, Dell step up as HIMSS survey sponsors

Superior Consultant Holdings and Dell have signed on to sponsor the 12th Annual Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Leadership Survey, joining the ranks of such high-profile companies as IBM and Hewlett-Packard, which have previously served as sole sponsors for the survey. According to HIMSS chair Walter Menning, this year's survey will expand its data collection and trend analysis. The survey can be accessed at www.himss.org through Feb. 8, and preliminary results will be announced at the 2001 HIMSS conference in February.

The two new sponsors have radically different backgrounds in healthcare. While Dell has not shied away from this market, it is more associated with the consumer and small business niches. The computer firm's participation, however, reflects its growing commitment to the healthcare vertical market (HNN 10/18/00). Superior, in contrast, has been a long-time player in the healthcare consulting field, although-like many of its competitors-the firm struggled throughout 2000. Superior blamed the decline in its financials on the general malaise of the high-tech sector.