Inside the HealthVerity journey from unknown startup to healthcare industry disrupter

Our transition at HealthVerity from a small team working together every day in a compact space in Philadelphia to a hyper-growth tech company of hundreds of team members distributed across the US has been an incredible adventure. Since 2022, we have been fortunate to welcome over 150 new team members, and our hiring pace has continued its upward trajectory.

My journey with HealthVerity began in May 2016 when I arrived on the second floor of the Philadelphia Horticultural Society building at 20th and Arch streets. When I entered that compressed office space, I observed about a dozen team members sitting closely together, silently and intently focused on their Macs. In those early days, we heard every keyboard click, chair roll across the concrete floor and conversation. It was definitely awkward at times, but also inspiring, as we worked together to launch the company from an unknown startup to a major disrupter in the healthcare industry.

This year, as I celebrate my seventh anniversary, I can reflect on the incredible growth we have enjoyed over the years, both financially and in total team members, in spite of the extensive changes across our country and throughout the world. It’s particularly interesting to reflect on what has stayed the same during this growth, as well as what has changed, and to consider what might evolve as we continue to scale.

What has stayed the same?

Making an impact

We continue executing on our vision to synchronize transformational technologies with the nation’s largest healthcare and consumer data ecosystem to advance the science. Alongside our clients in pharma, insurance and the government, every team member makes an impact through their contributions. The work is extremely rewarding and especially when, for example, it relates to informing the Centers for Disease Control on their response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The team builds the team

Strong leaders know that they are only as successful as the teams they lead. An effective way to empower a team is to ask for input on who will join the company and then invite the team to help with onboarding the new person. Our team members have built HealthVerity by personally being involved in developing assessments, forming interview questions and onboarding new hires.

The People team provides a structured interview process and guides interview and bias training for all interviewers. In the process, hiring managers weigh in last so that everyone else can share their feedback without bias. The referrals coming directly from our team members, represent a sizable portion of our hiring in most years. Once a new team member starts, there is a robust onboarding program that ensures clear goals and includes defined training for the role.

Gratitude for each other

On Wednesdays, our entire company continues to come together and review the accomplishments and challenges of the current week, as well as to provide shoutouts to each other. On any given Wednesday, each of our teams has the option to present a slide and share their wins or challenges with the greater team. This weekly ritual has welcomed a steady increase in attendees, well beyond what used to fit into our main conference room, while the shoutouts of gratitude remain plentiful and heartwarming. In fact, it’s a rare meeting when we don’t run out of time.

Celebrating life’s moments

We’ve always enjoyed celebrating the individual moments in the lives of our team members. In particular: birthdays, weddings, babies and anniversaries! For anniversaries, we call them out at our Wednesday All Hands meeting, and on the second anniversary specifically, we crowdsource special thoughts via a jamboard and share it with everyone. For weddings and babies, teams often select something from their registry or provide a gift card. And, at the end of each year, we organize a “Year in Review” across the whole company, highlighting all teams and their wins, and then we celebrate with a big party for the entire company!

What’s changed?

Where we work

There was a point in time when only one person a month might join the company and the night before their first day, either CEO Andrew Kress or our former CTO, John Cappiello, would pull out the power tools and put together their new desk. Each new desk was the same, with a butcher block top and metal legs, and once built, would be placed in one of the short rows of our small office. Today, while our cofounders and headquarters are still based out of Center City, Philadelphia, joining HealthVerity is no longer dependent upon being physically present or even near the city. Our team is now distributed across 30 states, with 50% of our team living in and/or near Philadelphia and the other 50% throughout the country.

We have developed team member “hubs” in key markets, such as Boston, NYC, Baltimore, DC, Raleigh-Durham, Charlotte and Atlanta. This has allowed us to expand our search and focus on hiring the very best person every time. New team members in the Philadelphia area are able to work in a hybrid structure to afford the best of both worlds. When they come into the office twice a week, they enter into a beautifully appointed office space, with rows of desks and chairs separated by either stairs, floor-to-ceiling glass, the community room or one of many conference rooms outfitted with monitors and Zoom access. And while there are dedicated areas in the office for each team, the desks are not necessarily specific to any one person, and there is plenty of room to spread out.

Training

Upskilling technical and role-based skills are a core benefit offered to every team member now. Through platforms like Coursera and Codecademy, our technically focused team members have the ability to upskill in many areas, with the most popular training focused on Python and AWS. Non-technically-focused team members might pursue role-specific training in sales, product, interviewing, compensation or accounting through Coursera or other specialized training offerings. And for all, we provide soft skills and/or management training that includes virtual courses taught live in small group settings with expert coaches.

Lastly, and new this year, is the creation of an Individualized Development Plan for every team member who wants to focus their career growth and development with specific goals.

Equity, inclusion, diversity and belonging

We are striving to make a difference as an organization made up of many individuals passionate about equity, inclusion, diversity and belonging. In terms of diverse representation on our teams, over the years, we’ve continued to make progress. One key way we’ve found success is by striving for a 50% diverse slate of finalists for each role we fill.

So many babies

Thirty-five babies have been welcomed into the families of our team members! With our paid family leave policy effective on the first day of employment, all of our parents are now able to take paid time off to spend with their new additions regardless of how long they’ve worked for the company.

What might evolve as we continue to scale?

Smaller communities

As we grow in size, we will continue focusing on creating smaller communities so that new team members can quickly and more easily find places of belonging. These groups, woven together, will strengthen the fabric of our culture. Providing regular opportunities for these communities to come together and share ideas and experiences will be important, as will developing more diverse communities, such as employee resource groups.

Every quarter, each department hosts an “onsite” where team members fly in for a few days of learning, sharing ideas and spending time together. This is a great opportunity to collaborate, as well as build those relationships that are essential to building upon our successes.

Celebrating wins

We’ve worked hard to grow and achieve our success over the years. Exercising our celebration muscles is something we are looking to improve going forward by recognizing team and company wins more often. Tremendous thanks to all of our team members for this achievement!

And yes, we are still scaling!

We are currently hiring to fill positions across all of our teams. Sound like the place for you? Check out our available opportunities here.

Learn more about HealthVerity