What's the Company Culture Like at firsthand Health Inc?

Collaboration at firsthand is woven into the structure of the work itself. Because the model depends on a small, consistent team wrapping around each individual- a firsthand Guide (Peer), a Health Guide (Nurse Practitioner), and others, the care team has to communicate constantly and fluidly to do its job well. Collaboration is operationally required.

Internally, teams connect through daily huddles, weekly 1:1s with managers, and monthly all-team meetings that bring the entire company together across every market and role. Employees also connect regularly with peers in the same role. Guides meet with other Guides, Health Guides with other Health Guides- creating a consistent space to share what's working, troubleshoot challenges, and learn from colleagues doing the same work across different markets.

Slack is the connective tissue of day-to-day communication,  with dedicated channels for care teams, market-specific coordination, colleague recognition, and community building. When firsthand launches a new program, the rollout involves cross-functional training across Guides, Health Guides, clinical staff, operations, and managers simultaneously, including breakout sessions, super user cohorts, and dedicated office hours for every team type.

firsthand's "One Team" framework is one of its five strategic pillars, tracked alongside clinical and business metrics. It reflects a deliberate choice to treat cross-functional coordination as a performance goal, not just a value. 

Recognition is also collaborative by design. Employees nominate colleagues for values awards, and those nominations are celebrated in front of the whole company. The "shoutouts" Slack channel and monthly all-team recognition moments reinforce that success here is shared.

For a 30% remote workforce, firsthand invests in keeping connection real: department meetings weekly or biweekly, an annual holiday celebration for the support team, and Slack communities built around shared interests, so people across markets and time zones have reasons to talk to each other.

Recognition at firsthand is peer-driven, public, and tied directly to the values that define how the company works, not to tenure or title.

The most visible recognition channel is the monthly all-team meeting, where colleagues are called out by name in front of the entire organization for embodying firsthand's values. Nominations come from peers, not something that flows only from management down. This structure reflects a core belief at firsthand: that the people closest to the work are best positioned to see it.

For those who consistently demonstrate excellent performance and values embodiment, firsthand runs an annual awards program in the style of a Presidents Club, with winners flown to New York City for an itinerary of activities alongside the leadership team. It's one of the more tangible expressions of the company's commitment to celebrating the people doing the work, not just the outcomes.

Individual milestones are recognized too. Work anniversaries are celebrated and marked with gifts unique to each year of service, along with a personal note of thanks. Birthdays are recognized in a dedicated Slack channel, and local teams frequently celebrate in person. For employees who reach the five-year mark, a sabbatical is available- one of the more unusual and meaningful forms of recognition in the industry, and one that applies to every employee regardless of role or level.

Beyond formal programs, firsthand's approach to compensation is itself a form of recognition: equity and performance bonuses are available to all employees, including hourly frontline staff,  an uncommon practice that signals the company views every team member as a stakeholder in its success.

The results are reflected in the numbers: a voluntary turnover rate of 7%, an employee NPS of approximately 95%, and an engagement score of 86% with 85% participation- all pointing to a workforce that feels seen and valued.

What makes firsthand's culture genuinely distinctive is that it was built from the inside out as a reflection of who the people here actually are.

The six firsthand values- individuals at the center, candor and kindness, seek understanding and remain teachable, serious fun, bias toward action, and deliver value- show up in how the company hires, how performance is evaluated, how feedback is given, and how decisions get made. They are a shared language across a geographically distributed organization, connecting a Guide in Tacoma to a data analyst in New York to a Nurse Practitioner in Virginia around the same set of commitments.

firsthand is also one of the few healthcare companies to hold a Mental Health America Platinum Bell Seal, the organization's top recognition for workplace mental health. That distinction reflects concrete practices: free unlimited virtual therapy for all employees, manager training on burnout and stress recognition, no after-hours meetings, encouragement to disconnect outside of work hours, and an explicit organizational commitment to holding space for employees who are themselves on a recovery journey. At firsthand, it is not unusual for a team member to be open about living with serious mental illness, because that lived experience is not a liability here. It is the reason the model works.

The company's commitment to equity runs through its benefits and compensation practices in ways that are uncommon in the industry. Bonuses and equity are available to every employee. The sabbatical after five years applies to hourly and salaried staff alike. Pay equity is a stated organizational priority, and firsthand actively works to ensure that compensation reflects contribution rather than credential or seniority alone.

firsthand has been recognized externally as well- named to the New York Digital Health 100, honored by Mental Health America, and named a Modern Healthcare Best Places to Work honoree. 

But perhaps the clearest signal of the culture is this: when firsthand went through a difficult period in 2025, many of the employees who were let go came back. Not because they had to, but because the mission and the people brought them back. That kind of loyalty comes from a workplace where people feel like they belong and believe the work matters.