www.wbjournal.com March 2, 2015 • Worcester Business Journal 3
Back in the 1970s, when I was in high school and college, I was a regular daily rider of the MBTA's Red Line.
The service was reliable 99 percent of the time and brought me to downtown Boston in minutes.
Forty or so years later, and it appears that some of the train cars that carried me and others on that subway line
are still in use today. (Show of hands: How many of you have been driving the same car for 40 years? Yeah, I
thought so.) Old equipment is just one of the problems facing the MBTA, the nation's oldest public-transit sys-
tem, which is relied on by thousands to get to and from work every day. As last week unfolded, the subway lines
were back to pre-February operating levels, before the arrival of "Snowmageddon." But the commuter rail lines,
which hundreds of Central Massachusetts commuters use from as far as Worcester, Fitchburg and Franklin, were still beset with delays
and even cancellations. For instance, the Framingham-Worcester line, which has 47 trains heading in either direction on a typical
weekday, saw its schedule cut to 25. For more on the system's problems, read our editorial on Page 29.
Also in this issue, our Focus section (Page 12) shines a light on the increasing – and changing – role of information technology in
the health care industry, a cornerstone of the Central Massachusetts economy.
Happy reading, and here's to an early arrival of spring!
~ Rick Saia (rsaia@wbjournal.com)
This Week In The WBJ
Editor, Rick Saia, rsaia@wbjournal.com
Web Editor/Columnist
Christina H. Davis, cdavis@wbjournal.com
Staff Writers
Sam Bonacci, sbonacci@wbjournal.com
(Banking & Finance, Real Estate,
Manufacturing, Technology)
Emily Micucci, emicucci@wbjournal.com
(Health Care)
Staff Writer/Copy Editor
Carol McDonald, cmcdonald@wbjournal.com
(Education)
Contributors
Susan Shalhoub, sshalhoub@wbjournal.com
Livia Gershon
Research Director, Roger Magnus
rmagnus@nebusinessmedia.com
Research Assistant, Heide Martin
hmartin@wbjournal.com
Art Director, Kira Beaudoin
kbeaudoin@wbjournal.com
Graphic Designer, Mitchell Hayes
mhayes@wbjournal.com
Manager of Video/Multimedia Services,
Matthew Volpini
mvolpini@nebusinessmedia.com
Director, Major Accounts
Bonnie Leroux, bleroux@wbjournal.com
Senior Accounts Manager
Matt Majikas, mmajikas@wbjournal.com
Custom Publishing Project Manager
Christine Juetten, cjuetten@wbjournal.com
Marketing & Events Manager
Kris Prosser, kprosser@wbjournal.com
Sales Admin & Account Coordinator
Susan Munyon, smunyon@wbjournal.com
Controller, Mary Rogers
mrogers@nebusinessmedia.com
Accounting Assistant, Valerie Clark
vclark@nebusinessmedia.com
Collections Manager, Raki Zwiebel
rzwiebel@nebusinessmedia.com
Human Resources, Debbie Amorelli
damorelli@nebusinessmedia.com
Publisher, CEO, Peter Stanton
pstanton@nebusinessmedia.com
Associate Publisher, Mark Murray
mmurray@wbjournal.com
Group Publisher, Joseph Zwiebel
jzwiebel@nebusinessmedia.com
Worcester Business Journal (ISSN#1063-
6595) is published bi-weeky, 24x per year,
including 5 special issues in April, July,
September, November and December, by
New Engand Business Media. 172
Shrewsbury St., Worcester, MA 01604.
Periodicals postage paid at Worcester, MA.
Copyright 2014. All rights reserved.
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www.wbjournal.com
A division of:
WBJ on the Web
From news to information about events and awards, we have it all at WBJournal.com.
Join us as we honor
our Business Leaders of the Year
Join us this Thursday, March 5, from
5 to 7:30 p.m. at The Urban Kitchen
(formerly Coral Seafood) on
Shrewsbury Street in Worcester as we
honor this year's Business Leaders of
the Year and Corporate Citizen of the
Year. To register, go to www.wbjournal.com/businessleaders.
ON PAGE ONE
Profits take a back seat
A look at nonprofit organizations in Central Massachusetts that supplement
grants and donations with revenue-generating ventures.
PARCC the MCAS?
A prominent business group has put its weight behind the PARCC test, or
Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, to replace
the MCAS as a way to better prepare students for work. Would it help?
NEWS & ANALYSIS
9 Why can't we sell more exports?
A recent report said export growth from Massachusetts firms lags that
of the U.S. Why? Experts point to the Bay State's product mix and a
stronger dollar.
SHOP TALK
8 Q&A with Christopher Provo, president and CEO, Provo Financial
Services, Shrewsbury
THE LIST
18 Top hospitals in Central Massachusetts
Coming to your inbox:
Central Mass Health Care
We're launching a new weekly email
newsletter, Central Mass Health Care,
which looks at the latest news and current
issues in a cornerstone industry of the
region's economy. If you subscribe to the
WBJ Daily Report, look for Central Mass Health Care
every Wednesday morning, starting March 4.
Train kept a rollin' – most of the time
DEPARTMENTS
21 Accolades & Honors
4 Briefing
29 Editorial
28 Flash Poll
26 Incorporations
23 Knowhow
25 Movers & Shakers
27 Networking/Events
30 Photo Finish
5 Real Deals
8 Ticker
29 Viewpoint
2015
2015
12
12 Data security: the battle
that never goes away
Health-care providers thrive on
information. Safeguarding it remains a
top priority as hackers always look for new
ways to infiltrate information systems.
12 Electronic records continue to evolve
More providers are moving to electronic
health records systems, but getting them
to talk with each other continues to be a
challenge, experts say.
13 Keeping watch on Partners
As the state's largest health-care system
grows, the smaller, independent providers
in Central Massachusetts stay the course
in an era of consolidation.
CORRECTION: Our story on EMC Corp., on Page One of the Feb. 16 edition, incorrectly
stated the company's profit for 2014. It was $2.7 billion.
Health care
FOCUS
