During a typical late evening spent catching up on administrative tasks, Dr. Andy Minhas realized his dream of achieving freedom and independence by opening a family medicine clinic hadn’t quite worked out as he expected. His days consisted of arriving at the clinic as early as he could manage, trying to placate his overwhelmed administrative team as they struggled with the morning rush, seeing back-to-back patients until the doors closed, and then spending every moment of his “free” time catching up on admin. To make matters worse, mindful that he was now responsible not only for his patients’ well-being but also that of his staff, Andy had rostered on extra clinicians and administrative team members at the expense of his practice’s financial health.
“I felt trapped in a dream that I’d created,” explains Andy. “I’d wanted my own clinic for so long and certainly wasn’t ready to give that up. But in the same breath, I knew something had to shift for me to keep up with the workload.”
Down the Tech Rabbit Hole
“I’d already maxed out my own personal productivity,” laughs Andy. “And it just wasn’t economically possible to bring on more support staff, even though our patient numbers were growing steadily.”
Knowing he had to think outside the box, Andy started reaching out to healthtech companies with a very specific set of questions.
Automation or Nothing
Andy’s clinic now consisted of 40 physicians servicing 250+ patients per day.
“Realistically, when you get to those levels of volume and scale, things have to work on an automated level,” states Andy. “We’d already tried different EMRs and clinic management software products, but they marginally streamlined processes at best. We needed a smarter, fully automated solution to truly scale.”
Clear that he needed a product that could safely take administrative tasks off his team’s plate completely, Andy interviewed several software providers to see if they could meet his needs. One of the companies Andy connected with was Cortico, a patient engagement platform that shared his vision of automating administrative tasks in healthcare.
“I met with Clark Van Oyen, the founder of Cortico, and he was like, ‘We’ve already built what you’re looking for!’”
Sustainable Practice at Scale
“People often think of a doctor’s visit as just the doctor meeting a patient,” explains Andy. “But what we don’t always consider is all the stuff that happens around the doctor visit.”
“Insurance eligibility, reminders, intake forms, scheduling, instructions, medication delivery, payments. All that is part of care delivery,” Andy adds. “And in my experience, that’s really what makes clinicians and administrative staff feel overwhelmed.”
These key areas of frustration and duplication are where Andy and Clark focused their efforts when implementing Cortico in the clinic.
Proof of Concept
To Andy’s delight, Cortico delivered on its promise to automate critical stages of his clinic operations. Patient volume increased significantly without adding more staff. The administrative team was able to maintain daily operations comfortably. And finally, Andy had some breathing room in his personal and professional life.
Andy tells the story of coming to work one morning during this period and being asked by his staff if he needed help with anything. He looked up in disbelief and said, “What? I thought you were buried and couldn’t keep up!” Smiling, his admin team explained that Cortico had just handled all the scheduling for the morning rush, so they had time to catch up on other tasks.
Real-World Results
Crucial for Andy, results were measurable from day one of implementing Cortico and continued to improve as he integrated the platform further into his clinic. After just six months, over 90% of patients were booking online, administrative tasks were reduced by 70%, and daily patient volume increased by 30%. Today, Andy finishes practicing at 4:30 p.m. and does whatever excites him—from spending time with his family to working with his friends at Cortico on the next big automation project.
Making Healthcare Better for Everyone
Andy’s story illustrates that when healthcare providers are supported by smart, human-centered technology that meaningfully reduces administrative burden, everyone benefits. After being so blown away by the impact of Cortico, Andy has since joined the company as Chief Medical Officer. He’s played an instrumental role in helping the company expand to over 400 clinics across Canada, the USA, and other countries. Cortico now automates up to 84% of repetitive administrative tasks in healthcare clinics, enabling providers to achieve up to a 4:1 provider-to-staff ratio. Integrating seamlessly with leading systems like Oscar and Accuro in Canada, as well as NextGen, Epic, and Practice Fusion internationally, Cortico enhances patient experience through automated intake, intuitive scheduling, proactive communication, and EMR task management.
About Cortico
Cortico is a leading provider of patient engagement and healthcare workflow automation solutions for medical clinics. Founded in 2015 by Dr. Greg Baldwin and Clark Van Oyen, Cortico launched its first integrated online booking system at Kensington Medical Clinic, cutting call volumes from 800 per day to zero. Today, over 400 clinics across Canada, the U.S., and international markets trust Cortico to automate over 3 million manual tasks per month.
Website: www.cortico.health
Phone: +1 833 CORTICO (267-8426)
Email: [email protected]
