The Advisory Board Company
The Advisory Board Company is a global research, consulting, and technology firm partnering with 125,000 leaders in 3,200 organizations across health care and higher education.
History
The company was founded in 1979 as the Research Council of Washington with a total of 5 employees. Although its original mission was to answer “any question for any company for any industry,” in 1983 the company began to specialize in research for the financial services industry and changed its name to The Advisory Board Company (ABC). By 1986 The Advisory Board Company launched its strategic research division dedicated to the health care industry, including its first membership program, the Health Care Advisory Board (HCAB). Across the following four years the firm grew to 150 employees, more than 500 health care members and published 15 major reports and 2,000 research briefs each year. In 1993 the firm launched strategic research. Across the first 18 months ABC’s members included almost half of the Fortune 500 companies. The firm expanded to include its first clinically based program, the Cardiology Roundtable in 1994, providing best practices in managing cardiovascular care for the nations’ cardiac programs.
In 1997 the Advisory Board Company spun off its corporate membership group, forming The Corporate Executive Board Company as an independent company. The Advisory Board Company maintained its focus on the health care sector, working with more than 1,500 healthcare organizations. H*Works, a consulting business offering best-practice implementation support for its membership launched in 2000, followed shortly by the Advisory Board Company’s initial public offering in 2001.
By 2002 the firm consisted of 2,100 memberships and 500 employees. The Advisory Board Academies leadership development division launched, addressing leadership gap in health care. In 2003 the Advisory Board Company was named to Washingtonian’s Great Places to Work and launched its Business Intelligence and Analytics offering called Compass, providing memberships anchored by robust decision support tools. In 2005 the firm was named to Forbes’ Top 200 High-Growth Companies and again to Washingtonian's Great Places to Work.
In 2007 the Advisory Board Company launched its first membership programs in higher education, working with student and academic affairs executives at several U.S. research universities. The firm continued to grow across 2008, acquiring Crimson, a boutique data, analytics, and business intelligence software provider focused on physician performance, quality metrics, and cost of care outcomes.
By 2009 the Advisory Board Company had opened its doors in San Francisco, marking the fourth domestic office. The firm also grew to over 1,000 employees and over 2,800 healthcare and higher education members. The Advisory Board Company expanded its capabilities in the physician management terrain through the acquisition of Southwind, a management and consulting firm focused on aligning hospitals and physicians through a comprehensive set of physician employment, clinical integration, and information technology deployment solutions.
From 2010 to 2011 The Advisory Board Company continued to expand acquiring and partnering with a series of technology firms. These companies include Milliman MedInsight, which provides population risk analytics, Cielo MedSolutions which provides ambulatory patient registry software and PivotHealth, a physician practice management firm. During this time The Advisory Board Company was named to Modern Healthcare’s Best Places to Work.
As of 2012, the Advisory Board Company has grown to 1,760 employees and 4,600 member organizations in the health care and higher education fields.
Products and Services
Research & Insights
Research & Insights memberships provide forecasting and best practice research tools and expert consultation on the strategic, clinical and operational topics of greatest relevance to current industry challenges. These programs are relevant for hospital and non-hospital organizations as well as domestic and international businesses.
Performance Management Technology
The Advisory Board Company provides performance management solutions for several processes. Its analytic web applications offer members visibility into current performance, provide best-in-class benchmarks, and prompt timely course corrections across the following terrains:
- Physician Integration
- Revenue Cycle
- Cost and Operations
- Employee Health
Management & Consulting Services
The Advisory Board Company’s Management and Consulting Services offer partners management and alignment solutions, best practice implementation support, and consulting services across the following terrains:
- Physician Alignment and Employment
- Clinical Integration and Clinical Transformation
- Physician Practice M &A
- EMR and Practice Management IT Selection and Implementation
- Physician Manpower Planning and Medical Staff Development
- Interim Physician Practice Management
- Supply Chain
- ICD-10
- Capacity
- Emergency Department
- Labor Cost
- Quality Improvement
- Surgery
Talent Development
Advisory Board Talent Development works with hospitals and health systems around the world to build strong, innovative, and effective talent organizations to achieve long term success and stability. Areas of focus include:
- Culture Transformation
- Physician Collaboration
- Leadership Development
- Frontline Impact
- Performance Acceleration
- Leadership Culture
As well as two survey offerings: the Employee Engagement Initiative and the Physician Engagement Initiative.
Notable Current and Former Employees
Jeffrey Zients, Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget
David Bradley, Owner of the Atlantic Media Company
Aneesh Chopra, Former Chief Technology Officer of the United States