ECRI rebrands itself to reflect its reach and roots: key executive: but it's more than just a cosmetic change

Healthcare Purchasing News, Sept, 2007 by Rick Dana Barlow

Ask many professionals in the healthcare supply chain management field what the acronym ECRI stands for and you'll likely receive blank stares, followed by some description of what ECRI does.

Mobile computing wizards, brandishing their BlackBerries and wielding their iPhones, probably would wirelessly "Google" the term on the spot and see the correct answer: Emergency Care Research Institute.

Founded nine years prior to Healthcare Purchasing News' launch by medical device inventor and entrepreneur Joel Nobel, M.D., as a research organization in emergency medicine, resuscitation and related biomedical engineering, ECRI quickly positioned itself as the healthcare industry's highly regarded "Consumer Reports." Nearly four decades ago, the Plymouth Meeting, PA-based Institute evaluated 18 brands of manually operated resuscitators, finding nine of them to be ineffective. Within a few years, the acronym ECRI became a well-accepted, well-recognized brand name as the organization expanded its reach beyond emergency care.

This year, ECRI rebranded itself again, retaining the popular acronym and hitching Institute to the end of it, hearkening back to its roots as a research organization but also re-emphasizing its broader foundation. HPN Senior Editor Rick Dana Barlow met with Ron Rothman, ECRI Institute's vice president of strategic planning and business development, to gain more perspective on the organization's new rubric and the reasons behind it.

HPN: Why did ECRI find it necessary to rebrand itself as ECRI Institute?

ROTHMAN: Medical technology and the healthcare industry have undergone dramatic change. Likewise, ECRI Institute has changed and evolved to meet healthcare organizations' growing needs. It was time to refresh our brand to more effectively communicate all that we do.

Semantically, it seems like such a subtle change so why should it matter?

Revealing the word 'Institute,' historically, an important part of our name, is a key step for us. Emphasizing a full name, rather than a four-letter acronym, provides our constituencies a broader sense of who we are and what we do. And we believe the tag line 'The Discipline of Science. The Integrity of Independence.' better reflects the values we bring to the users of our research, information and advice.

What is ECRI Institute doing differently now than it did before that may have precipitated the new name?

We found that our members and clients tended to know us in only one area. I can't count the number of times we heard 'I didn't know you did that!' For example, in addition to medical device evaluations (which is where we started almost 40 years ago), we provide extensive services in patient safety, risk management, technology assessment, and technology planning. And our constituency has expanded from primarily hospitals to include public and private payers, government agencies, continuing care organizations, physicians and insurers.

How does ECRI differentiate itself from what it considers the competition?

Let me focus on several areas. First, the depth of our research resources. We are unique in the industry with our dedicated device research laboratories staffed by engineers, scientists and physicists, and as an Evidence-based Practice Center (as designated by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) staffed by doctoral level scientists, physicians, nurses and epidemiologists. This means the information we provide hospitals is more than just opinion surveys, although we do these as well, but is scientific, evidenced-based information hospitals can rely on.

The second area is the scope of our work. Hospital decisions are complex--involving many considerations including technology assessment and planning, patient safety, acquisition, use, clinical efficacy and cost effectiveness. ECRI Institute's services and expertise span this decision-making continuum. This means we can integrate issues across a range of hospital processes and support their complexity.

Finally, as a nonprofit organization, we are fully committed to improving healthcare quality and patient safety without the burden of enriching shareholders.

Two key phrases that the ECRI Institute stresses are the 'discipline of science' and the 'integrity of independence.' Will you explain how and why these two phrases matter to the organization and should matter to healthcare organizations?

Whether you are a healthcare provider or payer, decisions regarding drugs, devices, procedures or processes affect your healthcare organization's viability and performance, and profoundly affect the lives of the patients you serve. ECRI Institute is dedicated to bringing the discipline of applied scientific research to discover which approaches are best. Our uncompromising independence and avoidance of conflicts of interest allows us to provide the unbiased information so important when lives are at stake.

How is the ECRI Institute funded?

Primarily from three sources. First, we have thousands of members and subscribers whose fees fund our research and allow us to share information and advice. Second, we contract with government agencies to develop and maintain programs. Examples include the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Reporting System and the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's National Guideline Clearinghouse, which, by the way, receives 12 million Web site visits a year. The third funding source includes a suite of expert resources, including consulting services, educational services and specialized resources, such as helping hospitals align capital investments with their strategic technology needs, procure the safest, most cost-effective technology, or assess patient safety. However, we refrain from consulting projects for, nor accept advertising from, device manufacturers or pharmaceutical companies. We are committed to maintaining our independence and to providing unbiased information.