The Advisory Board Company provides best practices research and analysis, software tools, and management and advisory services to the health care and education industries. The Company offers programs rooted in best practices in three key areas: best practices research, software tools and management and advisory services. Its management and advisory services programs assist member institutions� efforts to adopt and implement practices to improve their own performance. The Company�s membership-based model, in which members participate in its research and analysis on an annual basis, is central to its strategy. This model gives it privileged access to its members� business practices and strategic plans and enables it to provide detailed best practices analyses on current industry issues. On August 1, 2011, the Company acquired PivotHealth, LLC.