Co-founders Mark Speers and Paula Ness Speers started the firm over 30 years ago after leaving international management consulting giant Bain & Company. The firm has since built a senior management team of 14 partners and a solid group of vice presidents, all of whom bring different insights and experience to the table, allowing them to help clients develop marketing ideas for new products, advise on corporate mergers and acquisitions, international ventures and more.

Offering something others can't

HA can offer all its clients a three-pronged attack, with the ability to provide expertise in analytics, business, and health care on every project team. However, where the firm really shines is its knowledge of the latter of these three—health care. That knowledge includes in-depth information about diagnostics and personalized medicine, expertise in specific disease areas, detailed insight into dealing with complex clinical trials, and more. Most of all, HA thrives on its ability to predict or anticipate future trends and events in the healthcare industry over a 10 to 15-year span.

Staying on top of all the information required to monitor and recommend improvements to the healthcare industry is no small task. To do so, the firm relies on a vast proprietary database of more than 45,000 clinicians, researchers, and other industry contacts and experts, including PhDs, MDs, payers, and industry opinion leaders. In addition, the firm maintains a searchable library of treatment methods for diseases, company profiles, and licensing deals, all collected from within the industry and maintained since the firm was started. The firm also regularly funds internal research projects to stay on top of relevant issues, such as regulation, reimbursement, disease management, technology, business development, and competitive trends.

No. 1 priority

Despite all HA has to offer its clients, the firm believes that its employees have even more to offer to the community. One visit to its website will make it obvious that community service ranks high on its list of priorities. The company organizes one company-wide event per year plus offers staff three additional days per year to volunteer at the charity of their choice. Some of its favorite charities include Cradles to Crayons; Community Resources for Science; Brockenhaus, Switzerland; and Redress Hong Kong. Health Advances also established its Pro Bono Consulting Initiative in 2022 to bring its expertise to organizations tackling our most urgent healthcare issues.