Big data startup Explorys plans to double employment to 100 this year

Healthcare big data company Explorys plans to double its number of employees to 100 in 2012.

The Cleveland-based company is looking to hire primarily software engineers and clinical informatics employees. Software engineers are among the most challenging types of workers to find because they’re in such high demand, chief technology officer Charlie Lougheed said.

To aid in recruiting efforts, the company is hosting a networking event called “Rockin’ Big Data” on the evening of Feb. 1 at the House of Blues in downtown Cleveland. “We want to get to know people and allow them to get to know us,” Lougheed said.

Explorys, which was started in 2009 under CEO Steve McHale and Lougheed, planned its hiring binge due to increasing demand for its “big data” services.

The company has developed a network that contains troves of clinical and financial data from hospitals and allows health providers to analyze that data in real time. The idea is that doctors and medical researchers can mine the vast amounts of data to learn how variations in treatment can affect outcomes and uncover best practices to enhance patient care and lower costs.

Last week, Explorys announced the 10th health system to join its network, Akron General.

Explorys is a Cleveland Clinic spinoff. Last May, it raised an $11.5 million series C round of investment that was led by Austin Ventures of Austin, Texas and Foundation Medical Partners of Connecticut.

Big data has become one of the most popular buzz phrases in business, and nowhere more so than healthcare. At a high level, it refers to bringing together any of the massive amounts of information generated in the healthcare system — doctors’ notes, radiology images, billing information, medical research — and analyzing it to improve healthcare.

“We really see big data as the new frontier across all industries, specifically healthcare,” Richard Cramer, chief healthcare strategist at data integration vendor Informatica, told eWEEK. “The next decade is going to be the data decade in healthcare.”

[Photo from flickr user TenSafeFrogs]