Methodology

For the list, companies completed an application that included questions about projects, investments, company-wide programs, and workplace cultures.

Editors at Fast Company then evaluated each application and conducted additional research to determine a score for each company. A separate judging panel reviewed the top 125 companies to reach a consensus on the rankings. Any applications for specific categories were judged exclusively by Fast Company editors.

The best workplaces for innovators

Overall, 12 healthcare-related companies across several different industries made the list of best workplaces for innovators, including:

Biotech

• Nabla Bio (No. 10): According to Fast Company, the company "aims for zero hierarchy, and has no degree requirements," and respect is based on the quality of people's ideas, the persuasiveness of their arguments, and their ability to collaborate while navigating disagreements.
• Roivant Sciences (No. 34): The company operates Roivant Social Ventures, which has an internship program for diverse candidates at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Eshelman School of Pharmacy.

Healthcare and medical

• Kura Oncology (No. 22): The company has a cross-functional group called the Operational Excellence team that aims to encourage promising ideas wherever they occur.
• Ossium Health (No. 56): An observation from a new sales manager helped the company develop an innovative bone-graft product that is currently being used by surgeons across the country.
• Pelago (No. 73): A member of the company's care team introduced an idea that would become PACT (patient-centered, assessments, categorization, triage), a new way to evaluate alcohol use disorder.

Medical devices

• Atricure (No. 7): A new employee who had just recently graduated with a bioengineering degree was assigned to find a better way approach to cardiac ablation during open-chest procedures. Working with cardiac surgeons and different divisions in the company, a less invasive clamp was developed. The clamp received FDA approval and has been used to treat over 10,000 patients.

Nonprofit

• American Red Cross (No. 6): Using interviews and surveys with Red Cross volunteers, the organization created the Shelter Client Information App (SCIA), which was designed to help place disaster victims in emergency shelters more quickly. Last year, SCIA helped reunited families who were separated in emergency evacuations during the Lahaina wildfire in Hawaii.
• ALSAC/St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (No. 12): ALSAC, a nonprofit that supports St. Jude, hosts intern innovation projects, data storytelling hackathons, and enterprise innovation challenges.

Pharmaceutical

• Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (No. 8): To boost innovation and develop more women leaders at the director and senior director levels, the company created Athena, an initiative that sends select employees on a 10-month program that is delivered in partnership with the University of California, Berkeley. The program provides participants with assessment, executive education, enterprise-level business simulation, and executive mentoring. At the end, participants present what they learned to Alnylam's Women's Employee Resource Network.
• Genentech (No. 15): The company offers a free data science and machine learning certificate program to its employees through a partnership with San Francisco State University.
• Insitro (No. 21): The company offers an ongoing iLearn series where team members teach different skills across several disciplines, including stem cell differentiation, statistical genetics, and deep learning models.
• Beigene (No. 31): The company hosts monthly company-wide Coffee and Conversation talks, which feature speakers who explore different issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusivity.

(Fast Company, "100 Best Workplaces for Innovators 2024," accessed 9/11; Fast Company, "This was the methodology for Best Workplaces for Innovators 2024," 9/10)

As health systems face new and ongoing challenges, vendors must understand the needs and priorities of health systems seeking innovation. Understand what health systems are looking for in a vendor and learn the two key considerations for building successful partnerships.