Timing can be everything. And while it's certainly not the only reason Divurgent is successful, timing plays a big part of it. In 2007, Colin Konschak launched an IT healthcare firm with one stated goal: "To transform healthcare to our clients and the communities they serve."
But the timing of the launch wasn't purely coincidental, it was a conscious and well-thought-out strategy. "That was in 2007 and it was sort of the beginning of what we're in the middle of right now, which is the transformation of the U.S. healthcare system," says Konschak, a Managing Partner at the firm. "At that time, we knew we were at a crossroads; we knew that healthcare spending as a percentage of GDP was completely untenable and that it was going to break the back of the country if we didn't transform the way that we delivered care."
"We knew full-well that this wasn't going to the Clinton-era transformation that was talked about in the 1990s, this was going to be much greater reform, and that's exactly what we got. It actually started with the Bush Administration and then took off in the Obama Administration."
And healthcare IT is front-and-center this time around. "We have so much more data than we had before, which make the information actionable," he says. "We'll be able to do all those things that were just talked about in the 1990s."
Divurgent grew slowly and steadily those first few years before the firm exploded in 2012, increasing its staff size from 19 to 54 and its revenue 104 percent. And Konschak says he expects more of the same this year with plans to add another 34 people and grow revenue 52 percent. One accelerator: "The complete dedication and commitment of the Obama Administration to make sure these things happen," he says.
And Konschak says Divurgent can stay on this hyper growth path, at least for the next few years. "This year and next year will probably be our two busiest because of the federal mandates that are in place to get this done," he says. "In 2013 and 2014 we're looking at 40 percent growth or more." Further down the road, in 2015 and 2016, he says it'll probably scale back to the 20 to 30 percent range.
Later this year, the firm will open a San Francisco office and will begin the process of more fully evolving into an optimization firm, Konschak says. The core practice right now is the transformation practice, but as these IT systems go into hospitals Divurgent will move into a new phase of work around optimization.
"Many of these providers have put in systems because they have to, without a lot of significant thought about what the return will be for them," he says. "Now they're asking us about the return. That's why we're so bullish on the market. We have had great growth and will the next few years, but that optimization piece is going to be the second spike in the business model that drives demand for many more years."
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