Cameron Cummins is managing partner at Transparent By Design, where he's devoted to fixing health care by focusing on out-of-control costs and the downward spiral of quality.

Paul Wilson: How did you get started in the benefits industry?

I wanted to be a doctor growing up, and I got to participate in a program that allowed me to shadow doctors and watch surgical procedures.

My freshman year of college, I was on my way to a pre-med degree. When I went to Michigan State, I quickly found that sitting in 300-person classes was not my ideal way to learn. One of my mentors, an orthopedic surgeon, told me, "The clinical route doesn't seem to be working; you should check out the business side." I transferred to Ferris State University and got a degree in Health Care Systems Administration. I worked at a local hospital after graduating and hated every second of it. At 22 with no clinical background, I was following around doctors and nurses, telling them how to do their jobs. They didn't respond very well.

My next job was in revenue cycle management, but I fell out of love with that and did the sensible thing: became a bartender. A client told me, "You should use that degree. Our health insurance broker is hiring and I think that would be a good fit." So I was hired at a brokerage that had been around for about 75 years, and that's how I got started.