Billian Publishing has launched HITR.com, a healthcare IT benchmarking and social networking community for providers and vendors. HITR, which stands for Health Information Technology Research, offers research targeted toward stakeholders in healthcare IT.

Officials say the complimentary, Web-based tool offers members easy-to-understand customer satisfaction scores for nearly 40 IT systems and 300 vendors. Through its survey and social networking platform, HITR.com can identify timely research topics, conduct custom research through the HITR audience, and make the results of that research actionable to HITR's members.

"There is a lot of activity in healthcare IT right now, and having insight into others' experiences and impressions is invaluable," says Michael Roberts, director of network services at Highlands Regional Medical Center, and a member of HITR.com. "Before large IT purchases are made, there are countless conversations with vendors and referrals. A site like HITR can significantly simplify that process by offering one place to tap into unbiased feedback from colleagues on a broad spectrum of IT systems and vendors."

Providers can use HITR.com's survey tool to evaluate potential vendors, benchmark employee satisfaction with IT systems within their own healthcare facilities, and compare themselves with their peers at other institutions across healthcare IT, financial and quality performance data. After taking surveys, provider members can access rewards in the form of financial and quality performance comparison data on peer facilities -- a benchmarking tool that can help to further establish best practices at hospitals.

Vendors, meanwhile, can use the anonymous feedback submitted to HITR.com to rank their products against competitors, and better tailor offerings to providers' needs. Vendors can also engage with providers via several of the site's social networking features -- including blogs, groups, discussions and job boards -- to gather additional input to aid in product development and management.

"Candid feedback from the people using the system in our facility let's me know where trouble might lie," says Roberts. "Patterns of low ratings might indicate additional training needs. It can also draw attention to functionality that might be lacking in a given system, and help better steer us in future purchases."