Health tech startup expanding to Indy
INDIANAPOLIS (Inside INdiana Business) — A New York-based health tech startup is expanding its footprint with an office in Indianapolis. K Health, which has developed a platform that gives users immediate access to health information and allows them to connect with a doctor, will Tuesday hold a hiring event to begin filling positions at the office, which will be located on the city’s north side. Chief Operating Officer Scott Chesrown says the company is planning for growth at the Indy office, which could potentially house hundreds of employees.
In an interview with Inside INdiana Business, Chesrown said Indy brings several benefits for the company and its employees.
“I think Indianapolis has just always proved to be a great city from the standpoint of you get access to great quality talent…because it’s got a good quality of life. It’s an affordable place to live. There’s great schools and so when we were thinking about broader expansion, all those things kind of played into there in terms of where do we find access to a talent pool of people that can continue to grow with us and that we can come in as a shiny startup and actually help grow with us and actually expand our footprint?”
Chesrown says K Health has seen 400% growth since the beginning of the pandemic as telemedicine becomes more widely adopted. The company’s platform uses artificial intelligence technology to provide access to accurate health information based on actual medical records, while maintaining anonymity. Users can also contact a doctor or nurse for a diagnosis or treatment.
K Health, which also has offices in Ukraine and Israel, is a partner with Indianapolis-based Anthem Inc. (NYSE: ANTM), which Chesrown says also played a factor in the decision to expand to Indy.
“We do a lot of collaboration with them and as we’re thinking about providing care to not just our consumers and out patients, but also the Anthem population, we want to be in a position where we can have more face time and more interaction and just all those things play together because for us, it’s not just about a service center or a specialized kind of group there. When we think about expansion, it’s really about…we treat almost every office as a home office. We want them to be integrated into every thing we’re doing.”
Chesrown says adding workers post-pandemic has its challenges and K Health has adopted a hybrid approach with some positions being remote, while others require having a team in an office.
“Now, we’re looking at all the typical challenges of people coming back to the workforce very quickly and it’s a very competitive market. Our ability to attract and find high quality talent, even before COVID, it’s always one of those pressure points. I just think COVID has added another layer of complexity where you have to adapt to those hybrid models. You have to think about how to be flexible as an organization and understand what your team values the most and I think we’ve largely done a pretty good job of tying that all together.”
Chesrown says the company is initially looking to fill about 25 customer experience positions but that is just the start. He says as K Health continues to grow, he expects the Indy office to continue to add employees and other types of jobs over the long term.
The hiring event will take place from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Marriott Indianapolis North. You can find more information on the event by clicking here.