I can't help you PROBE your BITMAP (sorry but I couldn't resist ;-)), but my first suggestion would be to remove the INDEX hint and see what that does to performance.
It could be the underlying data has changed since that hint was applied and SQL Server may be able to come up with a better plan if you remove the hint.
Make sure you take an accurate timing of the query with and without the HINT, and allow several runs to give SQL a chance to cache a new execution plan.
My thought question: Have you ever been told that your query runs too fast?
My advice:
INDEXing a poor-performing query is like putting sugar on cat food. Yeah, it probably tastes better but are you sure you want to eat it?
The path of least resistance can be a slippery slope. Take care that fixing your fixes of fixes doesn't snowball and end up costing you more than fixing the root cause would have in the first place.
Need to UNPIVOT? Why not CROSS APPLY VALUES instead?[/url]
Since random numbers are too important to be left to chance, let's generate some![/url]
Learn to understand recursive CTEs by example.[/url]
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