Year-round, audit-supported 36-KPI performance benchmarking, anchored in verified end-user experience, enables defensible vendor comparisons and decision-grade competitive intelligence, with governance controls engineered to keep results free of vendor influence.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS / ACCESS Newswire / January 5, 2026 / Black Book Research today issued its 2026 Methodology and Governance Statement, detailing the research architecture, controls, and validation processes used to produce and maintain its annual Healthcare IT vendor rankings. The statement reaffirms Black Book's operating standard for ethical, longitudinal market research: comparative findings must be grounded in verified user experience, governed transparently, and structurally protected from commercial influence so results remain credible, comparable, and decision-useful across markets and time.

Black Book positions its rankings and KPI datasets as decision intelligence for healthcare leaders enabling procurement, governance, and strategic planning teams to benchmark vendors, track performance movement, and conduct fit-for-purpose comparative analysis at the KPI level, rather than relying on single-score abstractions.

"In healthcare IT, rankings directly shape shortlist formation, investment velocity, and executive confidence," said Kat Johnson, a spokesperson for Black Book Research. "Recognition must be earned through verified user experience, measured consistently, and insulated from commercial influence so outcomes reflect the buyer's operational context, risk posture, and priorities."

Black Book participates in global research and insights communities, including ESOMAR, The Insights Association, and The Market Research Society, reflecting alignment with established professional standards and methodological discipline.

A message to Boards and healthcare leadership

Black Book Research extends sincere appreciation to Health System Boards, hospital executives, and leaders of payers and physician organizations for the industry's high expectations around trust, integrity, and governance. As technology spend, cyber risk, interoperability mandates, and AI-enabled transformation accelerate, Black Book recognizes that stakeholders rely on research outputs as part of enterprise oversight and fiduciary responsibility. The 2026 statement is intended to provide clear, board-relevant transparency into how Black Book's comparative findings are produced and how independence safeguards are enforced to protect credibility.

2026 methodology highlights

• Global comparability: International IT and services user surveying since 2004, with current evaluation coverage across 147 countries and approximately 2,000 vendors.

• Longitudinal scale: Nearly 4 million healthcare IT satisfaction responses since 2011, including approximately 310,000 responses in 2025.

• More diagnostic measurement:36 qualitative KPIs per vendor-18 corporate-level KPIs plus 18 product/service/engagement KPIs-to separate enterprise performance from real-world deployment experience.

• Year-round validity: Point-in-time scoring maintained continuously to support decision-making aligned with implementations, upgrades, service transitions, acquisitions, and cybersecurity events.

• Buyer-weighted outputs: Users can weight KPIs to reflect fit-for-purpose priorities and risk tolerance (Google Looker experience).

• Competitive intelligence utility: KPI-level benchmarking, comparative gap analysis, and performance movement tracking by segment and geography.

• Independence controls: Diversified respondent sourcing, multi-layer validation, third-party auditing/validation support, and a report-licensing-only revenue model.

Survey operations, sourcing, and verification

Black Book uses modern survey methods, including mobile-enabled surveying and reputable third-party survey infrastructure (e.g., Qualtrics). To support breadth and continuity, Black Book maintains responses from over 8 million healthcare IT users globally in a Google Looker platform and works with 15 international panel surveying organizational partners to broaden role, setting, and geographic representation currently.

To protect integrity and deter duplication or inauthentic submissions, Black Book applies multi-layer validation using internal controls (origin/IP-related signals, metadata analysis, response-pattern checks, and experience qualifiers) and two external participant verification services, supplemented by third-party auditing/validation support. Organizations may license Black Book's annual KPI reports for decision support and evidence-based communications (subject to licensing terms). Licensing does not provide control over methodology, respondent identities, survey operations, or ranking outcomes.

Complimentary 2026 research available now

Black Book Research reports that ten complimentary (gratis) 2026 research reports are currently available to industry stakeholders. These include multiple global reports on digital IT adoption across 147 countries, as well as the 2026 State of Healthcare IT Cybersecurity report. For access and distribution requests, contact research@blackbookmarketresearch.com or visit blackbookmarketresearch.com.

About Black Book

Black Book Research is an independent healthcare market research firm specializing in client satisfaction, performance benchmarking, competitive intelligence, and vendor rankings across healthcare IT, outsourcing, and services. The firm has conducted international surveying since 2004 and reports current evaluation coverage spanning 147 countries.

Media Contact:

Black Book Research
research@blackbookmarketresearch.com

SOURCE: Black Book Research