Could Health Tech Become Indiana Calling Card?

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A panel of some of the state’s top health care technology executives agrees that Indiana is poised to take a lead role in the emerging industry. During a recent event at The Speakeasy in downtown Indianapolis, Formstack Chief Executive Officer Chris Byers, Healthx Inc. Chief Operating Officer Tom Millay and Springbuk CEO Rod Reasen discussed the components that make the city and the state stand out in health tech, including strengths in life sciences, data analytics and insurance. Reasen calls Indianapolis a "really interesting hub" that presents "enormous opportunity" for tech-focused businesses.

He notes one of the country’s largest insurers, Anthem Inc. (NYSE: ANTM), a first-of-its-kind organization, the Indiana Health Information Exchange Inc., and Indiana University School of Medicine, considered the largest med school in the U.S., are all located in close proximity, as is the Indiana University School of Informatics at IUPUI. "This is a natural ecosystem for companies like ours to be born out of Indiana," Reasen told Inside INdiana Business Multimedia Journalist Mary-Rachel Redman in a report for Inside INdiana Business Television. The company he co-founded, Springbuk, develops health analytics technology for employers. Springbuk recently received $3.75 million in private and state funding.

Millay said similar technologies used in marketing analytics — another strength of the city that is home to several big employers in the field like Salesforce — can be applied to the health care field. "Analytics is a piece of it, online, digital engagement, there are just so many areas where health care needs improvement that I definitely believe Indianapolis has a future there," Millay said.

Formstack, which is the company Byers works for, offers data management solutions and has a client list that includes St. Vincent Health, Cleveland Clinic and Autism Speaks.