From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Advisory Board Company (NASDAQ: ABCO) is a commercial, for-profit, public company
that provides general best practices research, executive
education, productized consulting, and business intelligence solutions
to a membership of hospitals, health systems, companies associated
with healthcare, and universities in the United States and,
increasingly, worldwide.
History
The company was founded in 1979 as the Research Council of
Washington by David G. Bradley. In 1997, the Corporate Executive Board was
spun off from the Advisory Board Company[1], and the
Advisory Board Company focused its business exclusively on the
healthcare industry. In serving the healthcare industry, the
Advisory Board Company primarily serves hospitals and health
systems, but also offers niche programs to pharmaceutical and
medical device manufacturers.
With growing success in healthcare, the Advisory Board Company
launched a new research division in 2007 for another mission-driven
industry, the higher education industry. The Education Advisory
Board served a membership of nearly 200 higher education
institutions by 2009.
In 2009, the Advisory Board Company employed more than 1,000
staff members, the majority of whom are located in the Washington,
D.C. headquarters.
Products
and Services
Products and services offered by the Advisory Board Company are
described below.
- Research Programs - The Advisory Board's core
business consists of its research programs, which it sells via an
annual subscription. The belief at the Advisory Board Company is
that most senior healthcare executives share common challenges. In
order to help executives resolve these challenges, the Advisory
Board Company creates a structured network in which members voice
common challenges and share innovative solutions to those
challenges. In effect, the Advisory Board Company provides a low
cost alternative to expensive consulting engagements. Rather than
hiring a consultant to evaluate and solve strategic challenges,
members of the network receive guidance from fellow members for a
low-cost (relative to a consulting engagement) annual subscription.
That said, the research is broad and does not answer
institution-specific problems, so it is not entirely comparable to
a higher-cost consulting engagement.
- Productized Consulting - Productized
consulting engagement are offered through the H*Works practice,
which is a direct extension of the membership services of The
Advisory Board Company. H*Works assists hospitals in installing
truly exceptional management practices uncovered by Advisory Board
research – with an eye toward efficiency and speed. Working in
active partnership with leading hospitals and health systems,
H*Works focuses performance improvement teams on uncovering the
root cause of problems, selecting proven practices that yield
tangible returns, and installing these leveraged practices to meet
the gold standard of best performing hospitals.[2]
- Business Intelligence - Business Intelligence
include web-based decision support tools that help hospital
executives improve operational and financial performance. Business
Intelligence solutions build on best practices identified in the
membership services offered by the Advisory Board
- Executive Education and Training - The
Advisory Board offers executive education and training through its
Academies, which provide educational services to five different
healthcare constituencies: nurse managers, frontline nurses,
physician leaders, non-clinical managers, and rising executives.
Curricula are derived from best practices identified in the
Advisory Board's core research programs.
Notes
- The framework for this article is based on the Advisory Board
Company article from Career Next Step.
References
External
links
Washington, DC, USA
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