TriCap Technology Group’s CEO Refuses to Wait for Opportunity to Knock

Joseph LaManna discusses how the web-based business is disrupting the receivables market and the changing role of technology executive in a social world

Joseph LaManna isn’t one to wait for opportunity to knock. His experience overseeing Afternic, a domain name auction platform acquired by Register.com during his tenure as vice president of global sales, gave him the idea to use similar technology applications on other technology-oriented market segments that were underserved or on the verge of significant upheaval. That seed grew into the founding of the TriCap Technology Group, a company focused on solving several key business challenges facing the health-care industry.

Sync: What was the impetus behind TriCap’s development of ARxChange?

My partner [Dr. Jim Zadoorian] and I recognized that increasing government regulation and changing demographics were trends that would have profound effects on the health-care space and the American economic landscape. Thus, if we could create a technology platform that addressed several of the critical challenges that would be faced by health-care executives today and in the future, we could build a sustainable and successful business. Focusing our efforts around the receivables markets—a $400 billion and growing market here in the United States—seemed like the logical entry point.

Sync: What challenges are associated with the intersection of finance and technology?

That’s an interesting question. Certainly in today’s regulatory environment, and given the fact that we operate in a space predicated on the protection and privacy of patient information, we consistently force ourselves to err on the side of a conservative approach to our ARxChange debt disposition efforts. We would rather forgo a transaction than expose a client to patient privacy concerns and the potential bad press that can emanate from such a breach. Since our focus is on providing guaranteed performance for our clients, we work hard to ensure that our analytics platform dissects an asset from every possible angle in order to determine, with a high degree of certitude, the exact path an asset should take in order to maximize liquidations. Striking a balance between privacy concerns and the maximization of return is aided through the use of leading-edge technology that can minimize risk and maximize return protocols at every important inflection point in the revenue cycle.

“It is critical that a technology executive in today’s world be able to navigate this new technology landscape to both evangelize and generate new business on behalf of one’s firm.”

Sync: What leadership approach do you employ to maximize technology’s effectiveness?

At the ARxChange, we like to put our money where our mouth is. We back up our claims by putting some serious skin in the game for our clients. Today we have turned the ARxChange into the largest and only patented analytics-based clearinghouse for medical receivables in the United States. We are the only company in the health-care and revenue-cycle space that guarantees performance by guaranteeing payment to our clients upfront on a non-recourse basis, for their uncollected asset classes that have been placed on our platform. This is a client-centric approach that has lent itself to allowing us to assume a leadership role in the industry due to the successful execution of this aggressive and unique strategy. Through the use of our sophisticated analytics technology and by guaranteeing performance, we take the guesswork out of asset liquidations on behalf of our clients and provide their senior teams with revenue visibility and liquidity they can count on … and “bake” into their budgets on an ongoing basis.

Sync: How has the role of technology executive changed over the past decade?

The single greatest change may be the advent of social media tools. A good deal of our new business has come from platforms like LinkedIn, where the ability for me personally to connect with other like minded CEOs and CFOs has allowed us to pick up a slew of new business accounts and relationships without incurring much marketing expense. It is critical that a technology executive in today’s world be able to navigate this new technology landscape to both evangelize and generate new business on behalf of one’s firm.

The other major change is the growing government intervention and oversight in major segments of the American economy. In health care, the rollout of the Affordable Care Act has created both chaos and opportunity for companies, and health-care providers and technology companies alike struggle to adapt. For us, our ability to take advantage of social media tools in growing our business and creating company awareness—and using our ARxChange Clearinghouse & Analytics to boost asset performance, reduce complexity, and minimize risk—have been game changers.