Morgan Stanley just took an unprecedented step to fix rising healthcare costs

Business Insider/Jessica Tyler

• Morgan Stanley just hired Dr. David Stark as the company's chief medical officer and head of HR data and analytics.
• Stark is the creator of Lab100, a futuristic clinic built in partnership with Mount Sinai.
• In his role at Morgan Stanley, Stark will be working to "foster innovation in employee wellness and health care coverage," chief human resources officer Jeff Brodsky said in an emailed statement.
• The hire comes at a time when employers have been trying to keep a lid on rising healthcare costs.

Morgan Stanley just hired a physician who created a futuristic doctor's office in an effort to improve the health and wellness benefits it offers to its workers.

At Morgan Stanley, Dr. David Stark will serve as the bank's first chief medical officer as well as head of HR data and analytics, with the aim of tackling rising healthcare costs as well as improving employee wellness. Stark was the creator of Lab100, a futuristic clinic built in partnership with Mount Sinai and was an assistant professor at the health system's Icahn School of Medicine.

"We created this new role, uniting HR data and analytics with the role of Chief Medical Officer, in order to foster innovation in employee wellness and health care coverage." Morgan Stanley chief human resources officer Jeff Brodsky said in an emailed statement. "Harnessing our HR data, we can achieve better wellness for our employees and address rising health care costs."

Read more:Mount Sinai teamed up with the designers who created projects for Nike and Beyonce to build a futuristic, new clinic - and it's reimagining how healthcare is delivered

The hire comes at a time when employers have been trying to keep a lid on rising healthcare costs. The cost of providing health insurance was about $13,000 per employee this year at major employers, according to a survey released on Tuesday by the consulting firm Mercer.

For many Americans, their employers are the ones picking up the tab for their healthcare. More than half of the non-elderly population is covered by an employer-sponsored healthcare plan. As healthcare costs go up, employers are the ones feeling the pressure. Some are starting to get fed up and looking for new ideas.

Stark got his MD from Harvard University Medical School and also has a master's degree in biomedical informatics from Stanford University. He did his residency in pediatric neurology at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical College before joining Mount Sinai in 2016, according to his profile on LinkedIn.

Read more: 'Waiting for its Uber moment': America's biggest companies are shaking up the healthcare system

It's not the first time employers have turned to academia to lead the way.

In June, Amazon, JPMorgan and Berkshire Hathaway tapped surgeon, professor, and writer Dr. Atul Gawande as CEO of their joint healthcare venture. The venture is aimed at lowering healthcare costs for the companies' employees, though there haven't been many details about what that looks like.

See also:

• The former CEO of GE pinpoints the moment he realized healthcare was his problem
• We spoke with the woman shaking up GM's health plans, and what she said should terrify health insurers