Have you ever paused to think about how health data could shape the future of cancer treatment? Or asked what happens to all the patient information doctors collect each day? What if all that data could help doctors find better ways to treat people with cancer? That is the idea behind Flatiron Health, a company that is turning everyday clinical experiences into insights that could help patients, doctors, and researchers around the world.
What Is Flatiron Health?
Flatiron Health is a health technology company focused on cancer research and care. It gathers clinical data from many healthcare systems and organizes it so that researchers and care teams can learn from real-world cancer treatment experiences. The aim is simple and powerful: use data from everyday care to improve outcomes and deepen medical knowledge.
This approach helps fill gaps that often exist between clinical trials and what really happens in the clinic. Traditional trials are essential, but they only include certain patients under strict conditions. Real‑world evidence shows how treatments perform when patients are living with other conditions, are different ages, or are in everyday settings.
How Flatiron Health Works
Imagine millions of pages of medical records, lab notes, treatment histories, and outcomes. Much of that information is recorded in different systems that do not talk to each other. Flatiron Health connects these fragments. It combines and standardizes data, allowing researchers to see patterns and trends that would otherwise remain hidden.
Clinicians, life sciences companies, and public health leaders rely on this organized data to answer meaningful questions. For example, they might look at how a specific drug works outside of a controlled clinical experiment or how outcomes differ across diverse patient groups. These insights can support better decisions in treatment planning and future research.
One good example of how data connects care to community can be seen with Exploring Montgomery General Hospital: Where Care Meets Community. That article explores how clinical environments and shared knowledge help support patient outcomes in ways that echo the goals of Flatiron’s real‑world work.
A Global Focus
While Flatiron Health began in the United States, it now partners with groups around the world. In the United Kingdom, Flatiron Health UK collaborates with hospitals and research groups to organize cancer care information and make it meaningful for local and global studies. This international reach demonstrates how real-world data can support research across healthcare systems.
Flatiron is also active in Germany and Japan, working with partners to build networks that collect and analyze oncology data in ways that are useful in each region’s health system.
The Technology Behind the Insights
Flatiron Health uses modern technology to unlock meaning in vast amounts of medical data. Tools like machine learning and natural language processing help extract details from doctors’ notes and records that might otherwise be locked in text. This lets analysts find patterns and relationships that would be hard to spot manually.
The work goes beyond simply showing what happened. Through advanced modeling and analytical frameworks, Flatiron aims to paint a picture of why certain patterns appear and how they might influence outcomes in the future. That kind of insight can be especially powerful for doctors seeking treatment options that align with patients’ real experiences outside controlled trials.
How Roche and Flatiron Fit Together
Flatiron Health is a privately held company and does not have its own public stock ticker that you can buy or sell. In 2018, Roche Group, a major global healthcare company, completed its acquisition of Flatiron. Roche is well known in the fields of cancer drugs and diagnostics, and this relationship gives Flatiron additional resources while allowing it to continue its mission.
Because Roche has a broad role in cancer care and treatment development, observers in the healthcare and investment communities watch Flatiron’s progress closely. Even though Flatiron Health stock is not publicly traded, the company’s work can influence thinking in the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors.
For context on how companies in healthcare work to support care and research, check out Discovering Sagility Health: The Company Behind Smarter Healthcare. It highlights how data and technology can support better outcomes in health settings, much like Flatiron’s approach.
Where Flatiron Health Is Located
Flatiron’s main headquarters are in New York City. The company also has offices in other locations in the United States and internationally. If you need to reach them for general questions or support, here is some useful contact information:
Contact and Office Information
• Phone: (888) 662‑6367 (general inquiries)
• Headquarters Address: 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA
Flatiron also maintains offices in places such as Durham, North Carolina, and Murray, Utah, in the United States, as well as in London, UK; Cologne, Germany; and Tokyo, Japan.
These locations reflect Flatiron’s global reach and partnerships. It helps the company work closely with academic centers, health systems, and research organizations in multiple regions.
How Flatiron Health Data Is Used
Doctors and medical teams use Flatiron’s tools to help inform treatment decisions. Pharmaceutical and life sciences companies use the data to design studies that reflect real‑world practice. And policymakers can use evidence from Flatiron to support guidelines and decisions that affect populations of patients.
Some studies using Flatiron data have helped highlight differences in treatment access and outcomes across various groups of people with cancer. Insights like these can help guide research priorities and bring attention to areas where care might be improved.
If you are interested in how healthcare systems serve diverse communities, Finger Lakes Health: A Friendly Guide to Care, Community and Confidence offers insight into how health services support people in a specific region. It helps frame the importance of data and experience in shaping care delivery.
Challenges and Changes at Flatiron
Like many fast‑changing companies at the intersection of health and technology, Flatiron has experienced growth as well as periods of organizational adjustment. News reports and employee accounts point to rounds of layoffs and restructuring over recent years. These moves reflect the challenges of balancing rapid innovation with sustainable operations and long-term planning.
Workplace changes are not unique to Flatiron, especially in sectors where technology and healthcare overlap. They are part of the ongoing process of adapting to new opportunities, budget constraints, and shifting priorities.
What Flatiron Health Is Not
It is worth clarifying what Flatiron Health does not do. The company does not operate clinical care facilities or offer direct medical services to patients. It also does not issue a stock that trades on public markets because it remains privately held within the Roche organization.
Instead, Flatiron focuses on gathering, processing, and analyzing data to provide insights that others can use in patient care, research, and policy making.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Flatiron Health do?
Flatiron collects clinical data from cancer care settings and turns it into meaningful information that supports researchers, clinicians, and health leaders.
What happened to Flatiron Health?
Flatiron joined Roche in 2018 and continues to develop its real‑world data platform. The company has been adjusting its operations in recent years, including workforce changes.
Who is the CEO of Flatiron Health?
Nathan Hubbard leads the company as its chief executive officer.
Is Flatiron a US company?
Yes. It started in the United States and remains headquartered there, though it works with partners globally.
Is Flatiron a good company?
Flatiron has had a significant impact on cancer research and real-world evidence. Like many companies, it has a mix of positive achievements and challenges. What makes it notable is its mission to make clinical experience more useful for the future of care.
Closing Thoughts
Flatiron Health stands at an interesting intersection of health, data, and technology. It takes everyday clinical experiences and transforms them into usable insights. In doing so, it supports progress in cancer research and care that reaches far beyond any single treatment or trial. From organizing complex data to helping researchers ask better questions, Flatiron’s work reflects how information can shape real improvements in health outcomes.
If you are curious about how AI and data are changing other areas of health care, Why Nerovet AI Dentistry Is a Game Changer in Oral Health shows how artificial intelligence is also reshaping dental care with fresh tools and approaches.
By paying attention to real‑world experience, companies like Flatiron are helping reshape how we understand and improve care for people living with cancer.
