Bob McCord made a conscious decision over 20 years ago to focus his career at the intersection of health, IT and government. “I believed the health industry had underinvested in health information technology and the government would play an expanding role in this marketplace,” says McCord. He was right. Today, government agencies are planning to spend $15 billion on healthcare IT by 2014. Small business partnerships will play a key role in that growth. “There has been a greater focus of late on the government and their partners looking for diverse skills and services,” he says. Here, McCord, chief operating officer of 2020, shares three tips for large integrators to forge effective small business partnerships in healthcare IT.

At a glance:

• Bob McCord has worked in healthcare IT for companies such as IBM, WebMD, DynCorp, Pearson (now Vangent), and SAIC. In early 2009, McCord became chief operating officer of 2020.

• 2020 is an 8(a) minority business, with just under 300 employees; it’s also CMMI Level 3 assessed and ISO 9001:2000 certified.

• Healthcare IT is a primary focus for 2020. Among its support work, the company serves as the systems maintainer for CMS’ Common Working File; it also offers enterprise life cycle management systems contract support for FDA. Mike Raymond, Chief Strategy Officer for 2020, was formerly VP Health at CSC.

“Health IT is well suited for small and medium sized businesses because so many opportunities are $30 million or less.” — Bob McCord, COO, 2020

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