In November 2022, Paul Shorrosh, an ‘84 Palm Beach Atlantic University (PBA) alumnus, sold his health care technology company, AccuReg Software, to Optum, one of the leading health solution and care delivery companies in the United States. The journey to building his own business started in Mobile, Alabama, where Paul grew up.
A Firm Foundation
Paul first learned about PBA while attending the University of Mobile (then known as Mobile College) as a freshman. His father’s close friend, Dr. Eugene Keebler, had recently joined PBA as a dean, and with encouragement from Dr. Keebler and his father, as well as PBA’s enticing location just a few blocks from the ocean, Paul transferred to the university for his sophomore year.
During his first semester at PBA, Paul was introduced to Mike Mahan, PBA’s campus pastor at the time, who began discipling and mentoring him.
“Something about Mike immediately drew me in,” Paul shared. “He saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself, and he was able to draw it out.”
Paul credits much of his leadership skills to Mahan, who encouraged him on numerous occasions to step outside of his comfort zone, leading to tremendous growth opportunities.
“Something Mike saw in me made him think I should lead worship, and he told me that,” Paul laughed. “I didn’t even play an instrument, and I couldn’t sing. I thought he was joking.”
However, a few weeks later when Paul was visiting home, his parents bought him a guitar.
“I didn’t even know they were going to do it. They just bought me it,” Paul explained. “Next thing I knew I was learning how to play the guitar and leading the worship team at PBA. Mike was right. He just pulled it out of me.”
Paul believes his time at PBA gave him the ability to grow and mature, and it deepened his faith. The people who invested in him and believed in him, with Mike Mahan at the top of that list, gave him the confidence to accomplish everything he set out to do later in life.
The Birth of AccuReg
After graduating from PBA in 1984 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and religion, Paul spent two years in Germany as an associate pastor at Hahn Baptist Church – a church Mahan used to pastor as well. After his time in Germany, Paul returned to the United States in 1989 to pursue his Master of Social Work degree from the University of Alabama. He worked in health care and social work for several years, and in 1992, Paul went on to attend the University of Connecticut School of Business where he received his MBA in Healthcare Administration. After receiving his second master’s degree in 1994, he moved back to Mobile to work as an administrator in hospitals.
“During that time, I became fascinated with computers, software and soon discovered how to use data analysis to help me report and manage operations and the revenue cycle more efficiently at my hospital. AccuReg was born out of that,” Paul explained.
As the Revenue Cycle Director, Paul’s primary job was to oversee registration, billing, and claims processing to ensure the hospitals were paid by insurance companies.
“I saw a broken process, and I knew there had to be a better system,” Paul explained. “I started tinkering with the data, and figured out how to automate quality assurance and insurance verification in real time, before the patient registration was completed. As this early artificial intelligence system identified errors in the data, it would alert the right employee to self-correct, which improved the entire financial cycle as well as the competency of the employees.
As a result of his work, the hospital’s Accounts Receivable rapidly improved, their denial rate diminished and so did their rework labor cost.
“I didn’t build it to start a business. I just built it to solve a daily operational problem that we were having at my hospital,” Paul said. “It turned into something that other hospitals needed.”
An Entrepreneurial Spirit
Within six months of creating the software, seven hospitals in Mobile reached out to Paul to use his software. Then, he landed his first big deal with a larger hospital in Mississippi.
“I began to make money from my side gig that exceeded the money I was making from my day job,” he said. “When I got to that point, I knew that I needed to quit my day job.”
In 2005, Paul started doing AccuReg full-time, and after 17 years, he sold the company to Optum. He had 130 employees when he sold the company and nearly 300 hospitals around the United States were using his software.
“We had a great run. There were a lot of ups and downs and difficulties along the way, but we survived it,” he said.
For those interested in entrepreneurship, Paul encourages them to be prepared for a difficult road.
“If you are a founder and start something from scratch, it’s incredibly rewarding, financially and personally, but it takes a lot of resilience and determination,” he said. “Make sure you have sheer determination, believe in what you’re doing, and never, ever quit.”
To learn more about PBA, visit www.pba.edu.
