Founded in 1981, National Research Corporation (NRC) has maintained a strong commitment to improving the quality of healthcare received by patients and consumers through a focus on continual improvement in patient experience and performance measurement within the healthcare industry. National Research Corporation was among the first to answer the industry’s call for data that profiles physician, provider and health plan performance. NRC is the leading provider of ongoing survey-based performance measurement, analysis and tracking services to the healthcare industry. NRC has achieved this leadership position based on over 25 years of industry experience and its relationships with many of the industry’s largest providers. NRC addresses the growing need of healthcare providers to measure the care outcomes, specifically satisfaction and health status, of their patients and/or members.
NRC has been at the forefront of the industry in developing tools which enable healthcare organizations to obtain service quality information necessary to comply with industry and regulatory standards and to improve their business practices so they can maximize new member and/or patient attraction, member retention and profitability.
National Research Corporation’s products and services are designed to meet the individual needs of the entire spectrum of healthcare organizations and cross all measures within an organization. The Company conducts market research studies for thousands of healthcare organizations including:
- Health Systems
- Hospitals
- Managed Care Organizations
- Medical groups
- Federal and State Agencies
- Employers
- Business Coalitions
Many of National Research Corporation’s clients are among the most respected entities in their areas of expertise. Even more importantly, National Research Corporation has invested in the human resources and technology infrastructure required to conduct large-scale data collection and reporting. In fact, the Company has recently invested more than $8 million in developing a proprietary quality system to fully automate the collection and reporting process.
National Research Corporation (NASDAQ/NM: NRCI), a leader in healthcare performance measurement, was named the 49th fastest growing, publicly traded small business in America, according to FORTUNE Small Business magazine in July of 2004. For over two decades NRC has continued to provide healthcare organizations with the most actionable and current market and customer satisfaction data available.
One of NRC’s growth strategies has been to expand its client base by pursuing strategic opportunities to acquire other healthcare performance information providers. In June 1998, the Company acquired Healthcare Research Systems, Ltd., an Ohio-based provider of survey-based performance measurement, analysis and tracking services to the healthcare industry. In May 2001, the Company acquired the Picker Institute’s healthcare survey business. The Picker Institute’s family of patient and employee surveys are highly regarded in the field of healthcare quality assessment and improvement. In March 2003, the Company acquired Smaller World Communications Inc., a Toronto, Ontario, Canada based provider of survey-based performance measurement, analysis and evaluation to the healthcare industry. While performance data has always been of interest to healthcare providers and payers, such information has become increasingly important to these entities as a result of regulatory, industry and competitive requirements. In recent years, the healthcare industry has been under significant pressure from consumers, employers and the government to reduce costs. However, the same parties that demanded cost reductions are now concerned healthcare service quality is being compromised under managed care. This concern has created a demand for consistent, objective performance information by which healthcare providers and payers can be measured and compared and on which physicians’ compensation can, in part, be based.