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It is a tough sell for medical suppliers and manufacturers looking to gain contracts with health care institutions in today's market. In order to get an edge, many companies are turning to intelligence services that can increase their selling power by helping them tap into an encyclopedia of new purchasing contacts. The Max, or Major Accounts eXchange, is one of a few emerging resources on the web offering superior market intelligence in the heath care industry.

Medical Distribution Solutions, Inc. (MDSI), a publishing and content company out of Atlanta, Ga., first released The Max in 2000. In the nine years since its inception, the online service has swelled into an impressive intelligence database that provides an analysis of 1,200 integrated delivery networks (IDNs) and contact information for decision makers in more than 70,000 IDN facilities, group-purchasing organizations (GPOs), and hospitals.

"The MAX is a subscription-based service used by the nation's leading suppliers, distributors and GPOs," says Tom Middleton, Vice President of sales for MDSI. "The Max is designed to maximize your ability to research and target hospitals, identify top facilities that generate the most volume, and find IDN and GPO affiliation."

For a 12-month license fee, The Max offers detailed profiles of IDN and GPO relationships with more than 110,000 health care facilities and extensive market information about 5,500 hospitals and 320 metropolitan areas. Such insight can help suppliers strengthen existing business and pin down new contracts during tough, budget-cutting times.

"Smart companies need to educate and research their customers to create a solution to their pain," says Middleton. "Suppliers that figure this out will transcend this downturn with a stronger relationship and respect from their customers that will translate to sustainable long-term business."

MDSI is a market share leader in the health care contracting intelligence field and has reigned in hundreds of powerhouse companies like Fujifilm Medical Systems, a major supplier of medical imaging and information products.

The database includes detailed profiles of IDNs that describe organizational structure and strategy. MDSI has set up The Max so that all IDNs are classified by their structure, integration and level of compliance to industry standards and excellence. For instance, networks are ranked from level one to level four to describe the degree of supply chain integration. A level four is the most strategically integrated and highly centralized IDN, using a GPO or direct contracting model.

Hospital system analyses include the volume of radiology cost by department, profit and loss amounts and balance sheet information for all CMS reporting hospitals.

"You can actually go in and start ranking those hospitals based on their radiology costs," Middleton says.

In addition to The MAX's accounts intelligence database, MDSI also offers MAX Online Education, web-based course modules on such topics as how to contract with government health care facilities and connect with regional purchasing coalitions. New modules roll out about every three months.

The economy may be evening out according to some analysts, but budgets will likely continue to be tight for months and maybe even years to come. Market resources like The Max may help vendors, distributors and others target sales to survive in the long run.