I received the following email from Jack Cooper, Ph.D.
([log in to unmask]), who gave me permission to share this with the group:

>Competitive Intelligence (CI) is an extremely misunderstood, yet extremely
>valuable tool for today's hospitals to utilize in achieving their market
>share. Hospital librarians are typically not trained in the strategic and
>management skills required to maximize their respective potential to the
>hospital beyond their present role, regarding CI.

>But with some additional education/training they can become an
extraordinary
>asset to the hospital/health care organization, at a much higher
>management/decision maker level than they presently hold. By becoming a
>member of a CI Team, they can assist in directing the strategic mission and
>goals of their respective organization to maintain market share against
it's
>competitors and to find new opportunities for growth.

>I think it fair to say that most hospitals are in financial difficulty, and
>community hospitals rely heavily on the "Development Fund", rather than
>making a profit as all businesses must do.

>Health care employee's today must understand that the Federal and State
>government can no longer afford to support hospitals as they have since the
>Hill-Burton Act. Hospitals must become competitive or file for bankruptcy.
>Today across the United States, statistics show that we have 50% to many
>hospital beds!

>Forty percent of those hospitals that have filed for bankruptcy did so due
>to not meeting or understanding the competitive role that their competition
>played in their demise (bankruptcy).

>Gathering data is not what CI is. Nor is converting this data to
>information. It is the gathering of data, conversion of this data to
>information, and the strategic implementation of goals to gain or retain
>market share that defines what CI is.

>To look at CI light heartedly, is a mistake that many librarians may make.
>It is a mistake that many hospital CEO's have made.

>At risk of boring you further, an article on Competitive Intelligence will
>be published this Fall by myself and my colleagues in the Journal of
>Hospital Librarianship, on how to develop CI Teams with librarians in
>hospitals.

>Regards to you,

>Jack Cooper, Ph.D.

Debbie

Debbie Skolnik, M.L.S
Library Director
Suburban Hospital Healthcare System
8600 Old Georgetown Road
Bethesda MD 20814-1497
Phone: 301-896-3199
Fax:     301-896-7310
Email: <mailto: [log in to unmask]>