The Advisory Board Company provides best practices research, analysis, executive education and leadership development, business intelligence software tools, and installation support services primarily to the health care industry. The Advisory Board Company programs focus on business strategy, operations, and general management issues. The Advisory Board Company program services include best practices research studies, executive education, proprietary content databases and online tools, daily online executive briefings, executive inquiry service, business intelligence and analytic tools, and best practices installation support. The Advisory Board Company best practices research services focus on identifying best-demonstrated management practices, critiquing widely-followed but ineffective practices, and analyzing emerging trends in the health care and education industries; business intelligence and analytics programs enable members to pair their own operational data with the best practices insights; and installation support programs assist member institutions to adopt and implement best practices to enhance performance. As of September 30, 2009, The Advisory Board Company offered 43 programs to a membership of approximately 2,800 organizations, including hospitals, health systems, pharmaceutical and biotech companies, health care insurers, medical device companies, universities, and other education institutions. The Advisory Board Company was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Washington, District of Columbia.