Rachel Spilo founded Catalyst Solutions at age 20 while working at a similar organization. With a high tolerance for risk and blissful ignorance of the concept of failure, Spilo took no outside capital and grew the organization organically from an employee of one to 425. By surrounding herself with strong talent, Spilo has been able to continue to grow the company year after year.
Catalyst Solutions is in the health insurance industry and partners with health plans to drive down costs and promote efficiencies. Many of Catalyst’s health plan clients serve the nation’s most vulnerable populations, including special needs, children, elderly, and low-income families and individuals. The mission of the organization is to focus on ways to improve the operations of health plans so that they can focus on taking care of their members through consulting, technology optimization and outsourced managed services.
“For 25 years, Rachel has been leading Catalyst Solutions and providing thought leadership, promoting a cross-pollination of ideas throughout the healthcare payer sphere,” said her staff. “Adaptability is one of her strongest attributes that Rachel has and she has paid close attention to the healthcare world and has made sure to mold her business to accommodate the ever-changing nature of the business.”
This adaptability was crucial in 2020 as COVID-19 hit, and so many companies struggled. Spilo strategized and created new ways to help the healthcare world by embracing the needs of the company’s clients and employees.
“One of the most pivotal risks I took was to add BPO to our service offerings,” said Spilo. “Unbeknownst to us, COVID-19 was about to change the world, but this added offering caused a boom within our organization, which not only enabled us to weather COVID-19, but to also grow dramatically.”
Under Spilo’s leadership, Catalyst Solutions, a certified woman-owned business, has experienced 400% revenue growth. Spilo’s efforts have garnered recognition as the Young Entrepreneur of the Year by the Small Business Administration and the company has been named an INC 5000 Fastest Growing Company. The Healthcare Business Review named the company the Top Healthcare BPO Company in 2022 and 2023.
“The world is changing faster than ever, so one of the most important traits for a leader right now is an eye for adaptability with a future-focused outlook,” said Spilo. “There is going to be a lot of disruption in the coming years, and leaders will be caught flat-footed if they don’t prepare their organizations now.”
