Relias Healthcare climbs into coveted Inc. 5000
Oct. 8—TUPELO — Not even a decade old, Relias Healthcare has made its way to one of the most prestigious and coveted business rankings.
Relias Healthcare is ranked No. 1,939 on the annual Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in America. In addition, Relias ranked No. 119 in the health services vertical and No. 3 in the state of Mississippi.
Some of the most successful companies like Facebook, Chobani, Under Armour, Microsoft and Patagonia gained their first national exposure as honorees on the Inc. 5,000.
"I'm proud of the fact that as Relias Healthcare has continued to grow at a level that is being recognized nationally by Inc., we've been able to maintain our strongest assets: our company culture and our focus on our providers, our hospital partners, and our patients," said Luke West, CEO of Relias. "This award validates the tireless work of our team members during a period where expanding our services has quite certainly sustained access to healthcare in rural America."
Relias Healthcare provides several hospitals with a wide portfolio of management and staffing solutions, with over 250 providers and over 350,000 annual visits. When it started, Relias had only one hospital it was serving with a small group of providers and about 82,000 annual visits.
"The accomplishment of building one of the fastest-growing companies in the U.S., in light of recent economic roadblocks, cannot be overstated," said Scott Omelianuk, editor-in-chief of Inc. magazine. "Inc. is thrilled to honor the companies that have established themselves through innovation, hard work and rising to the challenges of today."
Relias got its start in 2014 when a group of emergency medicine physicians led by Joe Johnsey started working with North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo to try to improve the overall emergency room experience. Two years later, Relias began serving as the sole emergency medicine staffing and management solution for NMMC-Tupelo, the largest non-metropolitan hospital in the U.S.
"When we started this, I never would have imagined that this would be a possibility," Johnsey said of the success and recognition. "The key if finding good friends who are highly motivated to do things and do things well to help you along the way."
Johnsey and his friends — which included West — saw a significant need to fix a problem: the emergency department at NMMC-Tupelo, where they were working.
"In 2014, the hospital was having a hard time staffing the emergency department, and Shane Spees had just been brought in to head the system," Johnsey said. "I was one of the few local people working in the ED here — one of two — and he asked me if I thought I could fix this or make it better, and I said I'd give it a try."
Johnsey said Spees, CEO of North Mississippi Health Services, was supportive of Relias' efforts and helped get the company started.
Success with NMMC-Tupelo led to Relias working with all of the the system's hospitals, except Iuka and Eupora. Relias also handles internal medicine for NMMC Tupelo, and it also works in west Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Northport and Fayette. Relias also works with Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg and St. Dominic's in Jackson.
"People saw we had some success here where patients weren't happy with the services that were provided and there wasn't the access they needed," Johnsey said. "And there were not a lot of local clinicians that were working in the hospital here. When outside hospitals started seeing what we were doing, they asked if we could go help them do the same sort of stuff.
"So our success has been to try to be involved locally with local problems. If you see 10 different EDs, you see 10 different EDs each with their own quirks and problems, and you have to be there and be part of the culture and family to come up with a solution. That's what we've done everywhere we've gone. Most of the time, the people aren't the problem — it's just a matter of getting everybody pulling in the same direction."
As far as climbing farther up the Inc. 5000, which would mean continued expansion and increased revenue, Johnsey isn't eager to make any kind of list if the company can't provide the level of personal connection it has been able to so far.
"When we get to the point where we don't have the resources to make sure Relias is learning and involved in that facility, then that's not a place we want to grow to," he said. "We don't want to sacrifice our reputation for a dollar here or there."
But Johnsey said their growth so far has come "from people calling us to help."
"We haven't grown by going out and telling them what we can do."
Instead, Johnsey said Relias' focus for growth is ensuring local communities don't lose their hospitals.
"What concerns me is hearing about these economic engines in communities that are struggling and might close their doors. That's where our growth, hope and goal is. Where there's a problem that we can help with a hospital to stay above water, we want to do and do that. It certainly helps the individuals of that community and it helps that community immeasurably," he said.
