Jolly Nanda is the CEO and Co-Founder of Altheia Inc., a company focused on unlocking and humanizing data to improve patient outcomes. She has demonstrated expertise in driving change, problem-solving, and enhancing interoperability. Jolly’s entrepreneurial passion was formed in small startups like Simon Delivers and Mobile Avenues. Her technical and management experience was honed at large enterprises like UnitedHealth Group, PriceWaterhouse, and John Deere. Jolly understands that for business strategies to truly be successful, they must move beyond the execution to become part of an organization’s DNA; to that end, she has delivered change management to a variety of organizations through VIKRITI, a management consulting group she founded in 2015. 

Jolly Nanda is affiliated with several professional organizations and has received numerous awards, including the AHA Empower to Serve Fan Favorite award in 2022 and the Global CEO Excellence award in 2023. She has held volunteer board positions at Women of Nations and HIMSS MN.

How did you become a leader in healthcare? Was health care always something you were interested in?

I have a deep background in technology, product, and operations, spanning industries like retail, manufacturing, and healthcare. Healthcare’s complexity, which is a blending of retail and financial services intricacies, has always fascinated me.

I came to the healthcare industry in the early 2000s after a stint in technology, ERP implementations primarily at manufacturing firms, and high-tech retail. Healthcare was full of manual processes, fragmented data, and very few standards; all of those resulted in extensive variation, systemic complexity, and operational waste. The reality of this ecosystem has kept the industry decades behind others, like financial services and manufacturing.

On my first day working in the healthcare industry, my direct manager handed me a plunger. He said I should not be afraid to get my hands dirty. Find a way to make things work and fix things. I was fascinated with the problems I witnessed and was fortunate to be able to spend time learning as much as I could by taking on new roles.

As time went on, I began to realize two things:

• To have any kind of success, we must have alignment and must ensure we are having bi-directional communications with all the people involved.
• We must be resilient and be able to take feedback. Pivot, pivot, pivot.

My passion for driving change and solving problems, coupled with my knack for connecting silos, forms our team’s philosophy and approach to unlocking and humanizing data to improve patient outcomes. We value curiosity, creativity, integrity, diverse perspectives, and humility.

You connected with one of your company’s future co-founders through WBL. Can you share that story with us?

I met my co-founder and COO, Lisa Fridland, at UHG 17 years ago. We are both WBL members. We happened to attend a virtual Coffee Connections event. Barb Hayes was in attendance, and she introduced herself and we ended up being in the same breakout room. We reached out to each other immediately after the meeting. We discovered that we shared the same passion, and she joined us earlier this year as a Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer!

Somehow, we’ve already made it halfway through 2024! What’s one thing you’ve learned about yourself as a leader so far this year?

In 2024, we launched our first product, Acuvia, to provide health insights on behalf of people who change health insurers, to ensure seamless transitions and care continuity. We have launched Acuvia’s consumer pilot, raised 12% of our pre-seed round, and onboarded a stellar advisory team: Nick Martin, CIO/EVP of Product at Empower Health; Milla Hautman, retired CTO of UHG; Kedar Deshpande, ex-CEO/COO of Zappos and Groupon; and Dr. J Nanda, CMIO/SVP at Cone Health.

During all of this, I’ve learned the importance of fostering a culture of adaptability and resilience within my team. Embracing change and being open to new ideas has proven crucial in navigating challenges and driving innovation.

Personally, or professionally, what might the WBL network be surprised to know about you?

I am a lover of animals and plants. My husband and son often shake their heads as I come home with yet another trunkload of plants! Now an avid gardener, I sell my own herbal teas and chili oil. I get asked how I have the bandwidth to do this alongside my career. I strongly believe that everyone must have a hobby that helps them relax and offers a place where they can reflect and think. Gardening and blending teas and sauces are that for me.