Editor's Corner

Today we're delighted to premiere the first-annual FierceHealthIT Health IT Innovators awards. While we realize that there are always more industry movers to discover, these companies are some of the best, brightest and fiercest companies we've found to date in some of the key emerging niches in health IT. Click here to see the winners.

As you'll see, these aren't solely nuts-and-bolts enterprise IT shops. In fact, several hope to transform the way providers work from consumers, helping consumers get better health information, share disease management tips and interact with providers from their hospital bedside. What makes them neat is that they're finding ways to mesh this consumer access with provider operations. This is going to be a real need going forward, and they're poised to meet it.

A few of our winners are focused on helping physicians practice more effectively, including one which offers a next-gen EMR and another which simply makes sure doctors get paid. Interestingly, it wasn't easy to find true (privately held) leaders here. (Vendors--and VCs--it looks like this is an area of opportunity.)

And yes, some of our Innovators offer standard IT gear, though we believe these vendors will be particularly helpful to health IT shops. For example, one offers an unusual solution to the problem of laptop data loss, and another promises to improve clinical data analysis across healthcare providers' departmental silos. Hard to argue that these are problems begging for a solution.

All told, it's an impressive roster of talent, drive and technology. Of course, you may not see your favorite vendor there, but we believe you'll be challenged and intrigued nonetheless. We welcome your comments and critiques, so let us know what you think! - Anne