ECRI Institute Wins Microsoft® Customer Excellence Award

Information Technology Expertise Leads to Win in "Excellence in Innovation" Category

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., April 29, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- ECRI Institute, an independent nonprofit that researches the best approaches to improving patient care, is pleased to announce that Microsoft® has recognized its information technology expertise with a 2011 Microsoft Customer Excellence Award for Excellence in Innovation. ECRI Institute was honored by Microsoft executives at an awards luncheon on Monday, April 11, at Convergence 2011 Atlanta, the premier Microsoft Dynamics™ user conference.

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The 2011 Microsoft Customer Excellence Awards, presented in 17 categories, recognized and celebrated Microsoft customers that have achieved notable accomplishments using Microsoft solutions.

ECRI Institute was recognized for its strong commitment to innovation. Working with Microsoft Dynamics gold certified partner RSM McGladrey, a leading provider of tax and consulting services under the McGladrey brand, ECRI Institute chose Microsoft Dynamics® CRM because it had the capability to centralize their data and automate their manual business processes.

"Our decision to implement Microsoft in a consistent platform across all of our business systems helped us better align our overall business and customer strategy resulting in significant financial savings, more efficient processes, and improved customer service," says Anthony J. Montagnolo, COO and Executive Vice President, ECRI Institute. "We are honored that Microsoft recognized our achievements with this award."

ECRI Institute's innovative implementation of Microsoft CRM enabled the nonprofit organization to achieve measurable results:

• Annual cost savings from automating processes for restricting access to users without current subscriptions
• Improved customer service by reducing response time for order inquiries
• Savings of annual maintenance fees by creating one centralized system from three non-integrated systems and eight contact databases

Established in 1997, the Customer Excellence Awards are awarded each year at the Convergence user conference in the United States. Microsoft Dynamics customers, partners and team members submit nominations. Judging teams for each of the categories rate nominations on category-specific criteria. Proposed winners for each category are then presented and reviewed by a panel of Microsoft executive judges for final approval. As part of that final review, winning customers, including the Overall Excellence Award winning customers, are chosen. Microsoft Dynamics is a line of financial, customer relationship and supply chain management solutions that help businesses work more effectively.

For questions or additional information, contact ECRI Institute at [email protected], (610) 825-6000, or 5200 Butler Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462.

About ECRI Institute
ECRI Institute (www.ecri.org), a nonprofit organization, brings the discipline of applied scientific research to discover which medical procedures, devices, drugs, and processes are best, all to enable health care organizations to improve patient care. As pioneers in this science, they pride themselves in having the unique ability to marry practical experience and uncompromising independence with the thoroughness and objectivity of evidence-based research. ECRI Institute is designated as a World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Patient Safety, Risk Management, and Healthcare Technology and an Evidence-based Practice Center by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. ECRI Institute PSO, listed as a federally certified Patient Safety Organization by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, strives to achieve the highest levels of safety and quality in healthcare by collecting and analyzing patient safety information and sharing lessons learned and best practices. Find ECRI Institute on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ECRIInstitute) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/ECRI_Institute).

SOURCE ECRI Institute