For decades, one key aspect of healthcare has continued to elude the brightest minds: data. And there’s plenty of it; according to a report from RBC Capital Markets, nearly 30% of the world’s data volume today is generated by the healthcare industry, with a compound annual growth rate of 36%. However, despite the significant amount of data, little has been done to make use of it in a meaningful way.

This is where Innovaccer comes to play—a company attempting to make sense of the terabytes of data that organizations generate on a daily business. Founded nearly a decade ago in 2014 by Abhinav Shashank, Kanav Hasija and Sandeep Gupta during what could be called the early days of “big data,” it started as a research project for academic settings (i.e., Wharton and Harvard), but eventually piqued interests as perhaps something more. Per Shashank, who is now CEO of the multi-billion dollar enterprise, the vision was simple from the start: “to build a system of intelligence so organizations can collate information and glean insights in a meaningful way.” The team slowly started building towards a more enterprise-grade product, and eventually, decided to focus solely on healthcare, where better insights could perhaps translate into the most meaningful result: better patient outcomes. Innovaccer has scaled significantly since those humble beginnings, and now offers a platform to decipher numerous variables ranging from population health and provider engagement metrics to understanding opportunities to improve contracting, referral management, quality and risk scores.

Engaging with data has always been a challenge in healthcare. A paper published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR) explains that healthcare data is notoriously decentralized; its siloed nature, therefore, requires remarkable initiative and effort to organize and make actionable. WestBridge Capital’s co-founder and managing partner, Sumir Chadha, explains that this is one of the very reasons he found a compelling thesis with Innovaccer: its focus on integrating data across different systems through a singular platform to generate actionable insights.

Of course, Innovaccer is by no means the only player in this game. In fact, healthcare data has exploded since the rise of EHRs, and technology companies of all sizes are eager to get a piece of the pie—though perhaps not all in the same way. Take Komodo Health for example, which provides a customized analytics platform on variables like healthcare provider influence and medication use projections. Another example is Arcadia, which has created a robust platform entailing benchmark reporting, analytics and care management tools. Even the big technology giants are entering the race; Microsoft’s Health Data Services platform leverages its existing cloud ecosystem to bring organizations of all sizes onboard.

Indeed, the competition is stiff, although there need not be a singular winner; with how expansive healthcare data is, each company’s unique approach can add value. Shashank echoes this sentiment valiantly: “Every company is going to have its competitors. Not one company is going to solve everything. And we don’t have to be number one at everything-- we’re just thinking about making care and health outcomes more proactive.”

The competitive advantage, however, comes through enterprise acclimation; that is, it’s not only enough to build a platform for healthcare organizations to use, but the service also must be incredibly easy to implement, troubleshoot and execute. Reports indicate that nearly two-thirds of healthcare organizations self-identify as using outdated technologies, which can cost individual healthcare staff nearly 3.9 hours per week in productivity losses. A big reason for this is that organizations are hesitant to undertake technology implementations that require years and hundreds of people to execute; rather, they want nimble and easy-to-deploy solutions.

In fact, many tech companies, such as Google, Amazon and even Oracle are slowly realizing this very phenomenon. Rashmi Gopinath, co-founder and managing partner at BAM Cornerpoint, describes this as a key factor that got her onboard the Innovaccer train early: while competitors were building incredibly complex and robust data warehouses, Innovaccer focused on quick and easy “platformization” so that clients could deploy the product across their organizations rapidly. Furthermore, the platform can easily integrate into existing EHR systems, so enterprises don’t need to heavily invest in changing their base foundation. Dr. Glen Steele, a strategic advisory board member and previously president and CEO of the Geisinger Health System, explains that this must be a key focus for technology companies: a constant commitment to integrate quickly and become a strategic partner-- both of which are core values for Innovaccer, per its founding members.

No company, especially one that has risen as quickly as Innovaccer has (the company just secured $275 million in a Series F round earlier this year), is without its challenges. One blatant obstacle: enterprise leaders are often cautious in welcoming technology. After all, the early days of AI integration in healthcare certainly entailed uncharted territory, fraught with unknowns. The Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science also describes healthcare’s more broad “technophobia” – a candid hesitance to adopt technology quickly. For this, the wider technology industry still has a strenuous battle to fight, though the value is slowly starting to materialize. Another issue is scaling the company with purpose and mission. This is one reason which led to the fall of other large healthcare unicorns such as Babylon Health and most recently, 23andMe, both multi-billion dollar enterprises in their heyday; many have since opined that both lost their purpose during their meteoric rise. This is why Shashank has made it his key priority to be incredibly thoughtful about choosing his leaders and operators. He exclaims that Innovaccer’s growth is entirely organic and people driven: “We are successful because we are a happy company. People enjoy working here.”

Assuredly, this entire industry certainly has its work cut out for it in the coming decade. Significant effort is still required to raise awareness about the power of data and how it can meaningfully impact health outcomes. With this, fierce competition will also emerge; however, if done correctly, perhaps patients may stand to be the ultimate beneficiaries of this competitive innovation.