Following Athenahealth Exit, Jonathan Bush Takes Executive Role at Startup

Boston-based concierge medicine startup Firefly Health announced Bush's hiring last week.

This time last year, Jonathan Bush was months removed from an acrimonious exit at athenahealth, the Watertown, Massachusetts­–based health software-as-service company he founded in 1997.

Numerous media reports that included allegations Bush had physically attacked his ex-wife during a custody battle in the early 2000s, along with accusations of sexual misconduct and verbal harassment in the workplace, were the driving forces behind his decision to step down.

Bush apologized for his actions, which came as activist investor Elliott Management was pursuing a sale of the company. Bush left athenahealth in early June.

Related: Jonathan Bush Talks Trump and EHR Innovation

Last week, Firefly Health, a Boston-based concierge care startup, announced that Bush was joining the company as executive chairman. In this part-time role, Bush will be advising CEO Andy Ellner, MD, as the company pursues growth opportunities in two additional geographies next year.

Interest in concierge medicine, where a patient pays an annual fee as a retainer for a physician's services, has grown in recent years. Employers have especially embraced the concept as a practical way to provide convenient quality care for employees while also accruing financial savings.

The entry of Bush, a healthcare technology veteran, into a growing industry field may attract the attention of provider executives around the country.     

In an email exchange, Bush told HealthLeaders that he was drawn to Firefly's tech-driven mission to make change in the "cumbersome and tedious" claims-based medical system.

"We need a fresh new approach that blends the best in modern medicine with the best in digital technology in order to drive real change," Bush said. "I hope to help the Firefly Health team navigate the excess bureaucracy that exists in today's healthcare system so that we can focus on delivering a radically more convenient, proactive and intelligent model of care."   

For his part, Ellner told HealthLeaders he is enthused about bringing Bush on board. The two have known each other for about two decades, and he considers Bush's vision about healthcare technology to be "unparalleled" among industry players, he said.

"There are very few entrepreneurs in healthcare who have the level of success that [Bush] has had in building great companies and starting to change the broader dialogue about what's possible through technology," Ellner said. "From my perspective, there was literally no one around who would be better to partner with in building what we hope is a company that scales quickly and has a strong impact on the rest of healthcare." 

Ellner said that the Firefly leadership team opened a dialogue with Bush about joining the company in the fall of 2018 and eventually let him lead an investment round in April.

In the same press release unveiling Bush's new position, Firefly announced that it closed a $10.2 million Series A funding round.       

Related: Athenahealth Shareholder Lawsuits Dropped Over $5.7B Sale

Ellner said that Firefly leadership had "no concern" about the allegations that ultimately led to Bush's abrupt exit from athenahealth, saying that he only has "great excitement" for working with him on upcoming projects.

"I don't think the past accusations are particularly relevant to how we think about working together," Ellner said. 

Fay Rotenberg, president of Firefly, added that the company is "very aware of the context within which [the accusations] were made," citing Elliott's "activist takeover" during the spring of 2018. 

In a CNBC interview last December, Bush criticized the tactics Elliott employed to take over athenahealth, which was ultimately sold to Veritas Capital for $5.7 billion. 

Related: Veritas Capital Closes Athenahealth Acquisition