James Dudley

James Dudley

Thinking Beyond the Present

By Yasir Ali, CEO & Co-Founder, Rivews

Thinking Beyond the Present

“You wouldn’t rely on a doctor to manage your checkbook, why would you rely on a clinical system to manage your revenue cycle?” asks James Dudley – CEO, Parathon. He found that many health care providers were forfeiting millions in compensation because they were relying on their clinical system to manage their RCM. Being a software developer and technologist, he realized that the workflow of engineering clinical systems was not equipped to handle RCM. He resolved to develop the most robust and comprehensive RCM system for healthcare providers. Thus, Parathon was born.

Parathon can manage the entire revenue cycle of even the largest providers as a single enterprise using the legacy EMR as a raw data warehouse. Dudley designed Parathon to be a middleware data aggregator that overarches legacy system EMRs. It enables the providers to control their entire financial desktop as a single enterprise even if it is comprised of many disparate facilities operating on multiple legacy EMRs. In this way, Parathon allows the providers to realize economies of scale and efficiencies from operating on a virtual single-enterprise system.

First of its kind

Parathon is based on a proprietary first-to-market “Parallel Database,” or “PDB”. Dudley has coined the term and trademarked it. PDB transforms the entire patient accounting system of legacy EMR into a single enterprise platform utilizing state of the art, cloud-based technology. The key benefit is that with Parathon’s PDB the provider gains complete control of their legacy RCM and can better manage revenue without being constrained by their EMR’s deficiencies.

Dudley firmly believes no clinical EMR system can match the RCM functionality and value proposition of Parathon as their clinical focus overshadows the requirements of RCM needs. “RCM pathways are intrinsically dissimilar from EMR, and the development mindset and culture for these pathways is radically different”, says Dudley.

He sees a greater role for the likes of Parathon as mergers and acquisitions are occurring at a rapid pace producing larger, and far more complex Provider organizations. Emerging Accountable Care Organizations, Pay-for-Performance, and Value-Based Reimbursement models also add a significant degree of complexity to Provider operations. They need the level of technical support that only a pure development firm like Parathon can deliver. “Shrink wrap” RCM solutions are heavily dependent on third-party bolt-on applications that legacy clinical systems offer and, as such, cannot meet these needs.

Code to Success

Dudley sites recognizing the trends in the industry and maintaining a highly innovative, loyal, and productive work culture as essential in becoming a successful entrepreneur. He says vast experience in the industry helped him sense the current and future needs of the dynamic healthcare industry which led him to establish Parathon. His business model generously empowers and rewards innovation and those who approach their work with pride and passion.

His advice to startup entrepreneurs is to be flexible and adaptable to change but do not get influenced and change the business goals. He cautions them to manage cash flow and budgets wisely as many great ideas and entrepreneurial ventures fail due to fiscal mismanagement. He urges that it is crucial to stay committed to their business plans. The Parathon edge is the quality, quantity, and depth of Intellectual Property, as well as focus and commitment to RCM. He says, “This commitment has spanned almost 3 decades during which we have remained true to our mission, and have emerged as the premier supplier of RCM software and services.”

James Dudley, CEO

Company: Parathon

Website: www.parathon.com

Management: James Dudley, CEO

Founded Year: 1991

Headquarters: Naperville, IL

Description: Parathon is the original full-scale healthcare Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) data integrator.

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