HealthEZ has continued to grow the past year and a half despite the pandemic. Now, as more companies are looking to make changes in health benefits again, it has a new chief executive, new products and an enhanced strategy.
The leadership change came 15 months after Abry Partners, a Boston private equity firm, bought the Bloomington company.
Jeff Bakke, a technology entrepreneur and health care strategist, this fall became CEO, succeeding founder Nazie Efktekhari, who is now executive chairman.
Eftekhari will focus on strategic health industry partnerships.
The move is the first executive leadership since Eftekhari founded the company in 1999, aiming to simplify and demystify health plan administration for small- and medium-sized businesses that operate self-funded plans.
Eftekhari said it is an era of investment in leadership, innovation in developing new products and services and technology and potential acquisitions.
HealthEZ has grown 30% to 50% a year since 2010. Strong revenue growth continued last year despite the coronavirus outbreak, which forced the company's top two clients — Life Time Fitness and Twin Cities Orthopedics/i-Health — to shut down for extended periods.
"We were growing, we've been growing at a very healthy clip," Eftekhari said. "The question became, how do you in a family-owned business, how much [do you] plow back in to get to the level of growth that is possible and desirable?"
With the investment from Abry and Bakke's focus on growth, Eftekhari said she is intent on pursuing the great untapped potential she sees for HealthEZ to grow nationally, beyond Minnesota, the Upper Midwest and some western and southern states.
"I feel like I designed a Rolls Royce engine, and it's sitting on a scooter," Eftekhari said. "Somebody's got to come and put wings on the scooter or it won't fly."
The company could easily triple in size over the next three years, she said.
"I shouldn't say easily — it's easy for me because Jeff will be doing the work. But I think we can get to those kinds of numbers, which are meaningful," she said.
Bakke joined HealthEZ after 15 years at WEX Health, where he most recently was executive vice president and chief strategy officer of the employee benefits and consumer-directed health accounts giant. He helped launch that firm and lead it to revenue of nearly $500 million.
Describing himself as a business builder for the past 30 years, Bakke said his focus is retaining existing customers, adding new ones and preparing the company for higher volume.
"HealthEZ has this great foundation," Bakke said. "It's got a great track record. There's a great leadership team here. We've got a good product and service. We bringing the whole Swiss Army knife, all of the essential elements to provide better quality care at a lower cost. It's time to take it to the next level."
Since the acquisition, Bakke said, HealthEZ's investments in sales have paid off. Hiring more executives and key professionals will build out a lean but highly tenured team.
Growth is expected to continue with companies with 100 to 1,000 employees, those the company traditionally has served, as more smaller employers move to self-insured plans, Bakke said. HealthEZ also serves larger clients with 2,000 to 5,000 employees.
The company this year launched HealthEZ Mobile with EZ Pay, which allows members to manage and pay health care expenses on mobile devices. The convenience it offers members and providers, who get paid faster, should add to HealthEZ's growth, Bakke said.
Eftekhari, an Iranian immigrant who came to study at the University of Minnesota in 1978, founded the Araz Group, which in 1982 developed the country's first Preferred Provider Organization to connect provider networks with insurers and benefits administrators. The U named her its Entrepreneur of the Year in 2016. She has a degree from the London School of Economics and master's degrees in international relations from the University of Southern California and in health care administration from the U.
Bakke previously has worked in key leadership roles at SafeNet Consulting, Allianz Life and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. He has been a consultant for American Express, Media Health Plans, Heartland Health Systems and United Healthcare.
Todd Nelson is a freelance writer in Lake Elmo. His e-mail is todd_nelson@mac.com.