athenista spotlight: Meet Dan Orenstein
Ever hear the one about the lawyer and Sparky the Monkey? It's all in a day's work for athenahealth's Chief Integrity Officer of the Compliance Program. Meet Dan Orenstein, this month's featured athenista.
athenaPulse: Tell us about your position at athenahealth.
Dan Orenstein: My title is Chief Integrity Officer. I manage the Compliance Program. Basically, I make sure athenahealth has policies in place to address government laws and regulations. My primary area of responsibility is making sure we comply with HIPAA rules and uphold the privacy of health information (PHI). This ensures that all sensitive patient information coming through athenahealth – demographic and payment information for example – is appropriately protected. I also work with coding and billing issues, particularly for Medicare and Medicaid, to make sure we follow the laws for correct submission of information. My job is also to raise awareness and train our employees on compliance issues.
aP: What are you working on now?
DO: We have lots of big, exciting initiatives in the works. This month, we're rolling out our new code of conduct called the "Compliance Principles." Most companies have binders filled with compliance stuff that nobody reads. But we've spent lots of time honing our Compliance Principles to make them very accessible. We're going to post the Principles everywhere – even on the back of employee ID badges. I'm also working on ways to improve our compliance policies at the department level, and compliance training for staff.
aP: In the past year, what has given you the most satisfaction from your work?
DO: I'm a lawyer and worked in private practice for 8 years before coming to athenahealth. One of the things that has been most interesting and satisfying for me here is the intersection of compliance issues and information security. At athenahealth, we take both of these things very seriously. In fact, we're hiring a new information security manager who will be reporting to both me and to our Chief Technology Officer.
aP: Funniest moment at athenahealth?
DO: The Technology Department has this giant stuffed monkey named Sparky the Monkey. One day, we had a meeting with an outside consultant. Sparky the Monkey was at the meeting. The same day, our Chief Technology Officer brought his 2-year-old daughter to work, so she was at the meeting as well. We conducted the meeting just like the child and the monkey weren't there. I love working in a place that pulls in children and stuffed monkeys to our meetings – especially with outside people present – and acts like it's totally normal!
aP: What was your first job?
DO: When I was 14 or 15, my brother and I started a painting business. We called it Orenstein Brothers. We advertised locally – I grew up in New Jersey – and got lots of business. I even remember our tagline: Neat, Conscientious, Reliable.
aP: Play any musical instruments?
DO: I play guitar. At our Holiday Charity Auction last year, I donated guitar playing and singing at a child's birthday party. And someone actually bid on me!
aP: Any secret pet peeves about the office?
DO: Everyone says there's lots of food around all the time. But compared to the law firms where I used to work, there's hardly enough for lunch most days. In my last firm, we had an in-house chef. I just don't think there's enough food lying around athenahealth.
aP: How do you unwind after work?
DO: I have a 7-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter. My son just started Little League, so I'm going to practices. I also volunteer with Russian immigrants. I speak Russian, and majored in Russian at Columbia. I even spent a semester in Moscow in 1989 while Gorbachev was in office. I was there when the Berlin wall came down. That was amazing.
