A fantastic place to work and make a career - Anonymous employee Health Catalyst Employee Review

5.0
Dec 21, 2019
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I have worked at Health Catalyst for almost a year and a half as both an intern and now, more recently, as a full-time hire. In the time between those two tenures, I had the opportunity to work at an earlier stage startup at Thanksgiving point that I think colors some of what I see as the greatest "pros" and "cons" of Health Catalyst. PROS: 1) Leadership. It's been said in many other reviews, and, I think, highlighted here with the number of his responses to reviews, but Dan Burton's leadership is second to none. More specifically, Dan's integrity, transparency, and sincere caring for his employees is without equal. He frequently speaks about how he views the employee's experience being his primary responsibility as CEO, and I believe his actions demonstrate the sincerity of that belief. Moreover, it is a responsibility that he feels very deeply about and is not casual about executing. It is a rare and enjoyable thing to have a senior leader that I feel like I can genuinely look up to and respect. 2) Culture. This is closely connected to the above, but the culture at Health Catalyst, specifically in how team members talk about and treat one another, has been amazing during my time here. While there are a lot of titles and layers of leadership (see cons), I personally have not encountered anyone using those titles to discredit or devalue any other team member. For example, as an intern, I was immediately provided with opportunities to engage with and lead meaningful projects, ultimately being able to present at HAS. Throughout that experience, I was rarely, if ever, referred to as "an intern" but, instead, was simply seen as a team member. Now, as a full-time hire, I have experienced the same, where, even when I am working with someone with significantly more experience than me, my views and ideas are treated with respect. Similarly, I feel like the level of experience and education of my co-workers is incredible high and, as a result of that, the capacity to see, evaluate, and recognize quality work is very high. That is a very satisfying thing as an employee. Separate from that professional, respectful culture, I have been floored by the culture of personal care that I have been shown during my time at Health Catalyst. My wife and I recently had our two first babies. During the pregnancy and following the delivery, it was amazing to me that it was so natural to be texting updates to my direct supervisor at Catalyst. Even now, she is often the first person I text pictures of the twins to. Beyond the support of my supervisor, the rest of my immediate team has rallied around my wife and me during this time, offering practical support in the form of gifts for the baby, but also prayers and well-wishes. Again, it wasn't just that these things happened but how naturally they happened that I have found so moving. 3) Benefits. Benefits and/or perks can be so funny. Oftentimes, it can feel a bit like the silly recruiting arms race in collegiate sports. Companies offering lunches, ski passes, and other kinds of fun or exciting perks while skimping on the "meat and potatoes" benefits that are most meaningful to their employees. Health Catalyst has that maturity in the benefits they offer that I find so much more meaningful. 401(k) match, HSA contribution matching, EXTREMELY generous parental leave, etc., etc. These benefits are all incredibly generous and, to me, paint a picture that the leadership of Health Catalyst want me to stay-- they want me to be able to make a career at Health Catalyst. 4) Clear career progression. During my time, I have been able to have several, meaningful conversations with my manager about my career development and progression. We've been able to chat about what I enjoy about the current work I am engaged in, how I can improve and do it better, and what professional challenges I'd like to tackle. That, too, is a satisfying feeling. But, more than those conversations, I have seen my manager work hard to enable that progression. She has taken me to workshop and professional certification programs to get the training I need for my future responsibilities. She has shared my work with others within the organization. She has worked closely with me to ensure that roadblocks are removed so I can continue to do quality work. She has lobbied for me to receive level changes/promotions and pay increases. She has clearly articulated her view of what she feels I am capable of. Taken all together, I feel so blessed to be in a place where I can not only see but feel the potential to build a career for myself. 5) Meaningful work. It was recently shared on LinkedIn the number of patients lives that had been saved and/or affected and the number of dollars shaved by the improvement work one of our clients has engaged in with Health Catalyst. That is phenomenal. Again, it is a satisfying thing to know that you are part of some great effort that isn't just enriching an organization but is saving lives and improving patient outcomes. I could go on, but I'll stop myself there.

Cons

1) Number of layers of leadership. With the amount of promotions that happen at Health Catalyst (which is a good thing!), there are a lot of layers of leadership. As a result, there can start become distance between the worker bees and the decision-makers. As a result, decisions get made without appropriate input from the workers, which have to then navigate the implications of those decisions. This becomes expensive both in terms of monetary costs and time costs as we continue to buy more and newer products/tools to do our work and waste time trying to re-learn or migrate work into those new tools and products. 2) Inter-team/department communication. Similar to the above, because the organization can get a little complex, the communication between teams and departments can be less than stellar. This can result in one team misrepresenting the work of another team or misrepresenting the current status of the work. It can also lead to parallel, duplicative work.

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Health Catalyst Response
6y
Thank you for this detailed, thoughtful review, and I appreciate your kind words directed towards me and towards other members of our leadership team. I do view my #1 responsibility as CEO to be focused on continuously improving team member engagement, and in being an advocate on behalf of every team member at Health Catalyst. I appreciate also your positive comments about culture, meaningful work, and, in particular, I was heartened to read of your experience with career progression. We as a leadership team have been focused, in earnest, for the past two years, on making meaningful progress in enabling a supportive system-wide infrastructure to enable every team member at Health Catalyst to have a bright career path and a sense of optimism for their long-term career opportunities at Health Catalyst. To that end, the experience you've had with your direct supervisor is exactly what we want for every team member at Health Catalyst. I appreciate also your articulation of areas for improvement and advice. I find your observations resonant and a useful call to action. First, as it relates to the layers of leadership and the possibility for disconnects between decisions being made and a full understanding of on-the-ground implications, I share your concern that this is a challenge for us, particularly as we grow. One counterbalancing decision we've made to try to help us stay closer to the on-the-ground realities has been to increase the size of the leadership team and employ a fairly flat organizational structure at the Leadership Team level. There is downside to every strategy, including this one, and one downside of this strategy is that leaders like Paul, our COO, have many direct reports. But an advantage is that we have approximately 25 senior leaders, all members of the Leadership Team, participating directly in our weekly Leadership Team meetings, hearing firsthand the deliberations, and contributing to an on-the-ground understanding of the implications of those decisions. Likewise, our weekly Extended Leadership Team meetings on Monday afternoons, where every people manager is invited to participate, are also designed to flatten the hierarchy and increase the communication of what's being considered. But there is clearly more work to do here, and we'll keep considering ways to increase the effectiveness of two-way communication, and be as informed as possible about the on-the-ground implications of decisions. I also appreciate your advice to continue to emphasize the centrality of good lines of communication between team members and their direct supervisor. This was emphasized in our most recent 360-degree feedback survey just completed a few weeks ago, and will be a theme and an area of focus in 2020. Thank you again for your insightful review, and for choosing to join Health Catalyst full-time after a successful internship! Best, Dan

Explore other reviews about Health Catalyst

5.0
Jan 23, 2026
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CEO approval
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Pros

Supportive team environment with opportunities to work cross-functionally on meaningful healthcare initiatives. Strong focus on client impact, collaboration, and continuous learning.

Cons

Processes and roles can feel ambiguous at times, requiring employees to be comfortable navigating change and figuring things out as they go.

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Health Catalyst Response
2mo
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. I appreciate the thoughtful recognition of our collaborative culture and the meaningful work the team does together. How we work together matters just as much as what we do. Our operating principles and cultural attributes remain foundational. To address your concerns about processes and roles, as the organization evolves, we’re prioritizing clarity in these areas to better support teams. There’s real momentum building right now, and the work ahead is meaningful. I’m grateful for you and the role you play here, and I’m excited about what we’re building together.
3.0
May 5, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great Talent & Culture: The people here are highly capable, collaborative, and committed to helping each other succeed. The partnership between onshore and offshore teams works well and is a real strength. There’s a culture of grit and stability that has helped the company navigate multiple major transitions over the years. Mission-Critical Engineering: The work involves complex data infrastructure that requires deep technical expertise. It can be demanding, but seeing these systems run successfully and support real-world operations is consistently rewarding.

Cons

Wage Compression and Retention Risk: Compensation for tenured and high-performing staff has not kept pace with the market for specialized data engineering and support leadership. In practice, tenure can feel undervalued or even penalized. This creates risk around losing institutional knowledge and operational continuity. Stagnant Career Progression: Contrary to stated expectations, strong performance ratings do not consistently translate into meaningful, market-aligned compensation growth. The process of how compensation is benchmarked lacks clarity in practice, obscuring how compensation decisions are made and what is required to advance.

5
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