How Company Founder Kara Trott Created a Culture of Caring for Quantum Health’s Customers

Kara J. Trott considers herself an “accidental entrepreneur” who never dreamed that she would lead a billion-dollar company.

But when she noticed a disconnect in the health care system that left patients frustrated and confused, she wanted to help solve it, so she founded Quantum Health Inc. in 1999. The private company now allies itself with more than 550 self-insured employers and 3.1 million members, helping them slog their way through insurance issues, treatment and provider options, and more.

Investors have told Trott she is one of about 60 women to take a company from zero to over $1 billion in valuation. Former corporate executive Bruce Krysiak, Quantum’s first investor, says people trust Trott and instantly respond to her energy. “Behind all the big things, she’s got character and humility and judgment underneath,” he says. “She has built a culture within the company, and not many people can do that.”

It’s clear there’s a need for Quantum, which serves a variety of clients with its health care navigation and care coordination services. The cost of employee-sponsored health care coverage is expected to increase by 9 percent this year, surpassing $16,000 per employee, according to professional services firm Aon.

Trott, who stepped down as Quantum’s CEO in 2021 and now serves as board chair, started the company to fill a void in the market by helping employees navigate the challenges of health care. “People describe a journey in the system as like Dorothy dropping into Oz. It’s dark, scary and awful,” she says. “It’s a very long journey, and our job is to walk along beside them. We have what we call a warrior creed.”

Members want someone “cuddly” to help them, and they need to be loved and cared for, says Trott, who has always been driven by an innate need to make an impact and leave the world a better place. But in addition to feeling heard, they also want someone who will stand up for them. “Some imagery the team created were bunnies with guns or Yoda, who was cute but could really do battle,” she says. “Members want us to kick people’s a---- and fight on their behalf because they can’t do it.”

From that, the front-line staff who partner with Quantum’s members became known as “Healthcare Warriors.” In early April, these Warriors and the company won a Silver Stevie Award in the Front-Line Customer Service Team of the Year category as part of the annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.

Why Kara Trott Started Quantum Health

A large part of Quantum’s work is centered around compassion, an integral part of Trott’s personality, according to those who know her. Shannon Skaggs, Quantum’s chief AI officer, says the early loss of her father, noted Columbus architect Richard W. Trott, contributed to Trott’s sensitivity and empathy. “It probably would have been easier for her to be a killer lawyer, but she chose to make an impact on the world,” Skaggs says.

Quantum Health was a distinctive concept when Trott started the company, which turned 26 years old on April 1. No other organization in the country did this work, but now Quantum has two competitors, San Francisco-based Included Health and Accolade, which was acquired in early April by Transcarent.

Trott did not have a traditional health care background when she started Quantum. The Ohio Wesleyan University graduate started her career in 1984 leading consumer research studies for Retail Planning Associates Worldwide. The job required her to study consumers’ journeys when buying products in stores, shopping for cars and obtaining banking services. “We helped clients do a better job of addressing where opportunities existed and things disconnected with people and it didn’t make sense for them,” she says. “When stores redesigned to fit consumers’ natural behavior patterns, you’d see a 10- to 20-percent in-store sales increase.”

After earning a degree in 1991 from the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, Trott practiced corporate law for six years at Bricker & Eckler. Midway through her tenure there, the firm moved her to transactional health care work between nonprofits, hospital systems and providers. She was also asked to create strategies for provider organizations. “My first real introduction to health care was the business of health care,” Trott says. “A lot of that was in strategy sessions with physicians and hospital administrators.”

That’s when Trott began hearing about the challenges facing patients. “I asked a lot of questions, like, ‘Who is helping these people?’ and ‘Isn’t someone connecting the dots for these people?’ ” she says.

Then the aha moment struck. “There was no clear way for a person to get through a health care journey, and people were bewildered, didn’t know what was happening to them and couldn’t make good decisions,” Trott says. “It was a crazy world out there.”

The situation was reminiscent of her retail research efforts—what things don’t work, where do people get stuck, and what’s their state of mind going through it? She began to understand the waste and inefficiency in health care, why the experience was bad for most people, and how no one was available to guide them.

“If you could understand this like we understood with retail goods and services, you could create a pathway for them and could be there at precise times to assist and support and find a solution for them,” she says. “And if we did it right, we could reduce the cost of health care and dramatically improve the experience and improve health care outcomes.”

After leaving Bricker & Eckler in 1996, Trott undertook a study of people’s journeys as they traversed the health care quagmire, searching for critical connection points and disconnects where intervention could help. That two-year study of 3,200 patients and nearly 300 doctors convinced her to launch Quantum Health.

The company started small with a few test clients but now employs 2,400 workers, with 60 percent to 70 percent of the workforce in Columbus. And it continues to expand. More than 550 self-insured companies work with Quantum, which gained 90 new clients in 2024 alone.

“We become the face of the plan,” Trott says. “We work with patients and providers both at the same time at the earliest points of their health care journey, where you can impact choices and challenges that they encounter.”

While it started slowly, the business has since snowballed. “It took us 20 years to get to a million members, two years to get to 2 million and one year to get to 3 million,” she says. “We are on that kind of a pace now because the product works and produces a great result.”

On average, clients see a 5 percent to 6 percent reduction in costs the first year, and the majority of employees’ heath care outcomes improve, Trott says.

Quantum Health Recognized With Accolades

Those who know Trott trace her success to one of her main attributes: focus. Leadership consultant Todd Gross, CEO of NgenioUSA, calls her “wicked smart” and says her ability to zero in on everything is uncommon. Also, she instinctively understood her business had to be culture-focused to be successful.

“Many entrepreneurs I know have what I call the shining-object syndrome; they’re always looking for what’s next or how can they change what they are doing,” he says. “Quantum was in the business of being caring and compassionate, and she had an intense focus on creating and maintaining that culture.”

Additionally, Trott is a deep thinker who has command of the business and can adjust her style as needed. And employees, especially front-line workers, are recognized for their efforts, says Steven Knight, Quantum’s chief operating officer. “She always prioritized not being the face of things, but letting the employees receive the recognition,” he says. “If you see Quantum Health, there’s a good chance you won’t see leadership.”

Trott has been recognized with multiple national awards, including Modern Healthcare’s Top 25 Women Leaders and Female Entrepreneur of the Year by the Stevie Awards for Women in Business. The company has been recognized locally and nationally as a top-tier employer, including by Columbus CEO’s Top Workplaces awards, Fortune Best Workplaces in Health Care and the Great Place to Work Best Small and Medium Workplaces list.

Trott’s first book, “No One Alone: Humanizing Health Care as an Outsider,” was published in April, and a documentary film, “Resonance: Journey to a Billion,” featuring Quantum Health and its culture, is in production for use as a business training resource.

Quantum Health’s founder is proud that the business still thrives by maintaining its compassionate culture to help those stuck within the health care maze.

“Health care is commonly a horrible experience, whether you are a truck driver or a Ph.D.,” Trott says. “We are here to take on the hard stuff for the members.”