College of Social Studies (CSS) alumnus Jonathan Bush ’92, a leader in the medical and insurance fields, credits Wesleyan as the training ground for his rhetorical ability. As the President and CEO of AthenaHealth Services, a consulting firm that helps private practices with claims processing and office organization, Bush has helped hundreds of firms streamline their operations, learning in the process how to appease stubborn doctors and legalistic claims adjusters alike.
“It’s funny, at Wes you spend four years arguing and yet you never take a class in arguing,” he said, speaking to a small audience of students in the Butterfield C lounge on Wednesday. “First thing I learned in business was official rhetoric. At Wesleyan I’d been learning it unofficially for years.”
Bush headed an hour-long forum that allowed students interested in the worlds of health care and professional consulting to converse with an executive experienced in both. Bush dispensed a variety of tips regarding successful work habits and necessary skills, emphasizing the need for creativity and ingenuity in entrepreneurial ventures.
“AthenaHealth has been successful in large part because we’re the only ones doing what we do,” he said. “We’re still the only company devoted to streamlining doctors’ operations, and that gives us a market that no one else can match.”
According to Bush, AthenaHealth mediates financial interactions between private practices and insurance companies, saving doctors the time they would normally spend attending to claims. AthenaHealth also attempts to convert a firm’s paper documents into electronic files, increasing efficiency and resulting, Bush said, in more competent medical care.
“The number one killer in America is not some disease, but human error,” he said. “AthenaHealth takes on those responsibilities that distract doctors from their real work. Instead of wrangling with insurance providers, they can focus on saving lives.”
Once a firm’s documents have been fully translated into computer code, doctors and their staffs can process claims through AthenaHealth’s Rules Engine, a complex program that analyzes a given patient’s profile and determines his or her bill automatically. This engine, according to Bush, recognizes over 40 million different payment situations—a staggering number that is the result of thousands of different payment laws converging on each claim.
When asked how it felt to be responsible for such an operation, Bush contrasted the responsibilities of college life with those of the work world. He said that a corporation demands its employees to be part of a team, meaning that one person’s failure is many others’ pain.
“There are people who will suffer quite badly if you let them down,” he said.
Venkatachalan Tharakad ’08, a CSS and French double major who attended the forum to learn about the experience of a successful CSS graduate, expressed interest in taking AthenaHealth’s innovations overseas.
“In India, the government dominates the health care system—80 percent of the population receives public health care,” Tharakad said. “If someone could replicate this kind of endeavor on an enormous scale, then over a billion people would receive better treatment.”
Associate Director for Employer Relations at the Career Resource Center Marlisa Simonson complimented Bush’s advice.
“It was very pointed and, coming from an alumnus, especially relevant for Wes students,” Simonson said.
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