Claude Cote’s journey from chiropractic to information technology

By Stanford Erickson

“Sometimes in life you back into success,” says Claude Cote. “But the key to taking that initial unexpected success and building it into a dominant company is to recognize early on that the service you are providing continues to be useful to the client every day and anticipates and provides practical solutions for the future needs of the client.”

Back in 1989, Cote was an engineer working in Montreal, Canada. A doctor of chiropractic, a friend, began bemoaning that chiropractic school never prepared him for all the time and paperwork required to schedule patient appointments, write up notes, satisfy insurance and government clinical information, do invoices, pay receipts, pay staff and vendors, and document everything for tax purposes.

Cote suggested that he might be able to help his friend.

“I spent a few days in the doctor’s office watching the workflow from when the patient first interacted with the office, by phone or in person, and then each increment of how the doctor and his office interacted with the patient,” Cote says.

Within in a couple of weeks, Cote had developed one of the first chiropractic management software systems, which he called Chiro-Logic. It primarily made the front desk of the chiropractic office more efficient for the patient and the chiropractic assistants. That may not sound like a lot, but it was more than what most software for chiropractors offered at the time. Word of mouth soon spread and within nine months 40 chiropractors were using Chiro-Logic.

Cote quit his job and began attending various chiropractic educational meetings in Canada and the United States. Between 1989 and 1992, 500 chiropractic offices in North America were using upgraded versions Chiro-Logic. Cote’s company, now called Platinum System, included himself and several service agents and technicians. Cote himself was on the road selling and installing his system seven days a week.

“The software we used ran on a DOS operating system,” Cote says. “Microsoft in 1995 opened up a whole new digital world for the average person by creating a user-friendly operating system known as Windows, including word-processing and data-aggregation that could touch most of the managerial and operational functions for a chiropractic practice.”

Between 1996 and 2001, Cote devoted most of his time writing code to cover all the various functions of managing a patient through an office, keeping patient records, documentation for insurance and regulatory agencies, and digitally handling more of the business side for the chiropractor. “We beta tested everything,” he said. “The focus was on the patient first. Then

we listened to our DCs on how we could improve the system for them and their staff. Problems we saw as opportunities to improve the system.”

The client base grew. Attending trade shows and advertising helped, but the greatest source of clients, says Cote, “was and continues to be word of mouth. One DC talks to another DC about how Platinum System incorporates ease of use with intuitive software, and a quick-response technical service.”

By 2001, Cote and his technical staff upgraded the system again, resulting in a six-month waiting list to join Platinum System. Clients also sought out the company from Europe and Asia. Soon Platinum System was serving thousands of doctors of chiropractic in 17 countries.

“Although we have tweaked the system every year, September 2011 marks the 10th anniversary of our patient-centered digital system that supports every function that we can think of needed to manage a chiropractic practice,” says Cote.

The most challenging issue for the company is not about the system itself. “It happens when not all the chiropractic team is ready to have a new system in the practice,” Cote says. His help agents and trainers are skilled in managing how CAs and doctors react at implementing a new system in their practice.

“After they use the system and see what it can do for them, the reward is huge,” Cote says. “The system gives a lot to everyone in the practice — doctors, CAs, and managers. But until they use it and see it in action, it happens that some of the office team hold some doubts on the capacity of such a system.” He has not seen one single person not being convinced after a short period of use.

Platinum System claims to be the innovator of most of what the majority of software companies now offer for the chiropractic community. It claims to have created the:

• Patient’s Chiropractic Health Card — permitting a patient to automatically sign in at an office;
• The sign in module;
• Automated patient calling;
• Electronic health files with electronic touch-pad SOAP notes entry;
• Automated care plan management; and,
• Front desk combined screen for patient information.

“I know that if a chiropractic practice uses our system for a year, we will have them for a lifetime,” Cote says. “Over the last 22 years, we have had a 98 percent client retention rate. This is our back into success program. Once DCs try us, they experience how we can help make their practice more successful.”

Cote also believes in being totally transparent in the cost and effectiveness of Platinum System’s digital management system.

Stanford Erickson is the editorial director of Chiropractic Economics. He can be reached at 904-567-1555, serickson@chiroeco.com, or through www.ChiroEco.com.