Health Outcomes Sciences to jump state line into Kansas, add 25 jobs

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - Kansas has scored the latest victory in the ongoing, cross-border battle to attract businesses and jobs to the state.

An official of Health Outcomes Sciences said the firm made its decision to move without regard to possible financial incentives.

However, he said, once the decision was made, the company applied for PEAK program benefits from Kansas. PEAK stands for Promoting Employment Across Kansas, and it allows designated companies to retain up to 95 percent of their employees’ payroll withholding taxes for up to 10 years.

On Monday, the Overland Park Chamber Economic Development Council announced that Health Outcomes Sciences, currently based in Midtown Kansas City, Mo., would be moving to OP’s Southcreek Office Park.
A healthcare information technology firm, HOS projects to add about 25 new jobs to its 13 existing employees within the next five years.

Mike Fiorito, HOS’s chief operating officer, said neither Overland Park nor the state of Kansas had offered his firm direct, monetary incentives to cross the state line before it made its decision. Rather, he said, Kansas offers a variety of conditions that HOS hopes will bolster its future growth.

Fiorito noted that Kansas-based employees will not have to pay the 1 percent earnings tax that KCMO-based workers do.

“But that’s not the primary reason for the move,” Fiorito said. “Our building is too small, and we anticipate added benefits in recruiting once we move.”

Founded in 2005, Health Outcomes Sciences’ primary product is ePRISM, which the company describes as “a web-based software system through which complex mathematical algorithms for patient-specific risk can be translated, rendered and delivered to clinicians at the point of care.” Use of the product, HOS says, can “drive the improvement of client and patient outcomes.”

"I would like to welcome Health Outcomes Sciences to Kansas," said Commerce Secretary Pat George. "It's terrific for the state's economy to have the company investing in Kansas and creating great new jobs. I'm proud Kansas can provide a business setting that will help them do so."