Denver-based Aspen Advisors is no stranger to recognition and accolades. The IT and Strategy healthcare firm was recently ranked among the Top 20 healthcare employers by Modern Healthcare for a third consecutive year. It placed fourth overall and was the top-ranked consultancy. Klas Research also named Aspen as a Category Leader for ICD-10 consulting services. And Aspen also was recognized by Consulting as one of our Seven to Watch in 2011 and one of our Best Small Firms in 2012.
Of course, when a firm achieves a 42 percent compound annual growth rate since launching in 2006, people are bound to notice. Last year, Aspen grew 32 percent, added 27 new clients and 25 new associates.
"Our vision was to create a world with better healthcare," says Dan Herman, founder and Managing Principal. "We saw a need in the marketplace to make healthcare better through the strategic and effective use of technology. We thought we'd be able to make a difference, both in the market and in our own organization. I think we've been able to do that, and we're proud of the type of environment we've created."
Dan Coate, who joined Herman early on in 2006, says the two have always focused on how Aspen could help clients improve their operations and enhance the quality of outcomes through technology.
And have they ever.
As Herman says, Aspen did a great job skating to where it thought the puck was going to be. "We saw this coming," he says. Although he admits he had no idea back in 2006 how big of a role healthcare would play with the Affordable Care Act.
And, regardless of the legislation, Coate says healthcare was always going to be a front-bunter issue. "The Baby Boomers are turning 65, and we all know we spend more on healthcare as we get older. And when you combine that with the 19 percent of the gross domestic product healthcare currently accounts for, the future had already arrived," he says.
So the timing, for one, couldn't be better for an IT and Strategy healthcare firm, but Herman is well aware of what too much growth too soon can do to a firm. "We'd prefer to keep our growth in the 25 percent rate," Herman says. "Of course, many in the healthcare industry have far surpassed that growth rate, but I think what we're trying to do is manage it so we can stay true to our vision and true to our values."
Coate says he envisions the firm being able to maintain that target growth rate. "It'll probably slow a bit as we get bigger, but we know that growing too fast will erode our culture and would not take us in the direction we want to go."
And its culture is a big part of Aspen's success. The firm offers its consultants a few popular perks, such as: Five years of service earns a full week of paid sabbatical, and three years of service gets consultants a $1,000 vacation bonus.
It's no wonder Aspen boasts a retention rate of more than 96 percent. "We're finding people are actually reaching out and finding us," Coate says. "We're growing and we're doing real consulting, which is certainly something that is attractive to quality people, especially those who are looking to grow their career."
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