American Data Network

As part of national health care reform, hospitals and other medical providers will have to demonstrate lower costs while providing high-quality care, which will be key measurements in determining reimbursements from government and private insurers.

And that's good news for American Data Network of Little Rock. It offers a variety of products and services to help hospitals track and improve their performance, said Cole Williamson, president and CEO.   

"Not only is there a mounting burden placed on facilities to report, but also they're going to be required to improve performance," Williamson said. "And so with hospitals faced with scarce clinical resources, we believe they'll be turning to ADN to handle that time-consuming data collection."

Founded in 1994 as a nonprofit, ADN was a joint venture between a group of Arkansas hospitals and Arkansas Blue Cross & Blue Shield. It became an independent, for-profit firm in 2000.

A key change in ADN's business plan came in late 2010 when it began offering more services to go along with its data applications. Not only can ADN collect patient data, it can analyze it, which could prevent patient accidents and save the hospital money.

"Today … we're really focusing as a professional services firm," Williamson said. "It's fueled our business."

AND's year-over-year revenue increase was 23 percent in 2010, 24 percent in 2011 and 27 percent in 2012, Williamson said.

Its hospital clients are across the country and range in size from 10 to 1,000 beds.

With 19 employees, ADN is expected to add three to four full-time employees this year, he said.

Williamson said ADN's secret to success lies in its attitude: "When we look at a problem, we always try to make sure that we couch it from what's in the best interest of our client."

Williamson's management style is "people first and last," he said. "So what we try to do is provide our employees with a comfortable work environment and the educational and technical tools that they need to deliver stellar service."

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