Investing in Healthcare Innovation
Partnering with visionary founders solving critical healthcare challenges
Thoughts
Perspectives on healthcare innovation and challenges we are taking on:
How to Hire an Infinite Workforce, Faster
The hiring questions health systems ask of AI are legitimate. Answering them sequentially, one requisition at a time, is what takes years. This post lays out how each party can compress the timeline: what startups must bring to the interview, how health systems can build a standing hiring machine instead of artisanal one-off reviews, how to think about Epic as the permanent internal candidate, and the five metrics that should decide which AI roles get filled first.
Mike Anderes
July 30, 2026
Hiring the Infinite Employee
If AI is moving at consumer speed, why do health systems take a year or more to deploy it? Because deploying true AI is not a software purchase - it is a hiring decision. AI is, by definition, a machine that does knowledge work: it reasons, generalizes, and produces recommendations and decisions. The only way organizations have ever acquired judgment is by hiring people, so the hiring questions reappear when a health system hires a machine - the vacancy, the job description, the credentialing, the total compensation, the supervision. Add the annual budget cycle, a building full of internal customers with competing vacancies, and the fact that every AI hire is also an outsourcing decision in a community where the health system is the largest employer - and the slowness stops looking irrational.
Mike Anderes
July 22, 2026
Three Years In: The Fastest Adoption Curve We Have Ever Measured
Three years after ChatGPT launched, 58% of American adults use generative AI, an AI answer now sits atop nine out of ten health searches, and the economists who once dismissed the AI job threat are signing public statements comparing it to the Industrial Revolution on a compressed timeline. This is the first post in a series about what that speed means for health systems - and why the clock inside our industry runs so differently.
Mike Anderes
July 22, 2026
About Ballad Ventures
The investment arm of Ballad Health, focused on healthcare innovation that improves patient outcomes and operational efficiency
Our Mission
Ballad Ventures is the investment arm of Ballad Health, focused on healthcare innovation that improves patient outcomes and operational efficiency. We partner with early-stage healthcare technology companies that align with our mission to transform healthcare delivery in our region and beyond.
As part of the largest integrated healthcare system in Appalachia, we bring unique insights into the challenges facing modern healthcare providers and the solutions that can make a meaningful difference.
Leadership Team
Mike Anderes is a clinician and healthcare leader who has worked on the front lines of care delivery and led operations across complex health system environments. He has served as a strategist and digital transformation leader at one of the nation's premier academic medical centers, driving technology-enabled change at scale. An entrepreneur with firsthand startup experience, he has also led a corporate venture capital portfolio with investments in 15+ healthcare startups. He has built and led high-performing teams, including a health-system DevOps organization focused on delivering secure, reliable, and scalable digital capabilities.
Bo is a healthcare strategist with an entrepreneurial spirit and nearly 15 years of experience in healthcare system strategy, operations, and governance. He leads the Innovation Center for Ballad Health and directs teams focused on innovation and transformation for a 21-hospital network in rural Appalachia.
Investment Approach
We seek to find great people and ideas in their early stages and provide deep operational support alongside financial investment. We know that innovation in health care is not easy but a partnership with Ballad Ventures will help get your startup from early prototype to scale faster.
Investing In
Digital Health, Medtech, Tech-enabled Services, Consumer Health and Wellness, and Health Care Operational Infrastructure
Investment Stage
Initial investments made in Pre-Seed through Series B companies
Check Size
Up to $1.5 Million initial investment depending on stage
Portfolio & Latest News
The companies we back — and what's happening at each of them right now
TessellatePhysician-first career matching across 425,000+ U.S. healthcare facilities.
No recent coverage — news will appear here as it breaks.
Homecare HubSmall-scale shared care homes as an affordable alternative to nursing facilities.
Homecare Hub Awarded NIH SBIR Grant to Support Complex Hospital Discharges
March 16, 2026
Emplify Health Partnership with Homecare Hub Addresses Critical Post-Hospital Care Gap - citybuzz -
February 12, 2026
Homecare Hub secures $3.4 million CAD in seed funding for its Airbnb-style senior care platform
September 26, 2023
CensinetCybersecurity and third-party risk management built for healthcare.
Outcomes Rocket and Censinet Release New White Paper Exploring the Future of Healthcare Innovation
April 15, 2026
Censinet Unveils AI-Powered GRC Platform and Systemic Risk Tools at ViVE 2026
February 24, 2026
Censinet, AHA, and the Scottsdale Institute Launch the 2026 Healthcare Cybersecurity Benchmarking Study
November 1, 2025
TailorMedFinancial navigation that removes cost barriers to high-cost care.
Patients Face More Than Cost Barriers to Treatment, and TailorMed Is Expanding to Address Access and Adherence Challenges
June 1, 2026
TailorMed and Flatiron Health Partner to Expand Medication Access and Support Across Oncology Care
May 4, 2026
TailorMed Introduces Next Phase of Growth with Expanded Medication Success Platform at AXS26
April 27, 2026
About Ballad Health
Integrated Community Health Improvement Organization
Ballad Health is an integrated community health improvement organization serving the Appalachian Highlands region with a mission to improve the health and well-being of our communities.
Serving 29 Counties
Our comprehensive healthcare system spans 29 counties across Northeast Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, Northwest North Carolina, and Southeast Kentucky, bringing world-class healthcare to rural Appalachia.
Get in Touch
Ready to share your healthcare innovation with us?