People of PointClickCare: Chris Klomp

As PointClickCare continues to grow and innovate for the future, we are committed to ensuring we have the best possible team to support our customers. That’s why, in December 2020, we announced the acquisition of Collective Medical.

Collective’s full‐continuum real-time care collaboration network unites perfectly with PointClickCare’s rich, post‐acute data set. Together, we are initiating a new era to radically transform the future of healthcare.

Key to this transformation is our Chief Evangelist, Chris Klomp. Formerly CEO of Collective Medical, Chris is committed to advancing integrated care coordination and leveling data silos to close information gaps across the healthcare continuum, particularly for vulnerable patients.

About Chris

As far back as he can remember, Chris says has been fascinated by technology. “I grew up being, and self-admittedly still am, a true nerd. The examples are myriad, but as one, I would geek out on my TI-82 calculator programming games in BASIC in the back of calculus class. Sadly, those amazing programming skills now elude me!”

This technology inclination seems like a straightforward path toward his future career, but technology isn’t where he saw himself as a kid. “Up through freshman year of college, my intent was to go to medical school and be a physician. My dad is a physician, and he was my hero growing up and, in many regards, still is. My mom passed away when I was young from what seemed like otherwise avoidable complications and bad handoffs in healthcare. So, those two fact patterns caused me to want to be in healthcare and help people. It wasn’t until later in life I realized I could do both, uniting my love of technology and my desire to impact healthcare at scale.”

Collective Medical Beginnings

When we asked Chris about the beginnings of Collective Medical, he told us that it wasn’t overnight success. “Credit where credit is due, I did not start Collective Medical. Two of my childhood best friends, Adam Green and Wylie van den Akker, started it, and it was actually Adam’s mom who came up with the initial idea. While they were studying computer programming, Adam’s mom asked them to create a computer program that would fix an issue she faced in the emergency department as a social worker trying to help patients struggling with substance use disorder. She wasn’t able to collaborate with providers in other care settings who also might have a role to play in that patient’s care and needed some tools to help. That was the original catalyst in the creation of Collective Medical.”

For Chris, his journey to Collective Medical started a bit differently. “One day I was talking to a business mentor of mine and described my plans to become a physician. He asked me if I had considered other ways to make a difference in healthcare besides being a physician. I hadn’t. And so, he introduced me to the concept of “management”—it was totally foreign to me—and his counsel led me to realize that there is more than one way to help people, particularly at scale. And that’s what I wanted to do, so I changed my major to economics, went to Bain & Co, and Bain Capital, and learned everything I could about business and data-driven problem solving. Once I got to Stanford and started building this solution alongside Adam and Wylie, it was like all the pieces were falling into place; it felt perfectly natural and completely fulfilling.”

Always a Problem Solver

Chris mentions that along with his self-admitted obsession with technology, he has always been fascinated by the concept of solving problems. “I love being able to build solutions. I love hearing someone say we have this problem and then being able to actually conceive of and build a solution for that problem. It’s a beautiful thing to witness because when we are able to fix it, we have the power to effect change. We can improve the physical workflows for real people with the solutions we provide, and then we can see how much better those workflows are and how they meaningfully improve their patients’ outcomes as a result. There’s nothing like it.”

He also mentions that the feeling he gets after solving a problem is what drives him. “Being able to see the solution in place, and better yet, see others benefitting from it… it’s an unbelievably addictive feeling for me. You can’t help but want to do that again and again.”

Motivated to Persevere

When Collective first started, Chris says people weren’t immediately interested in the solution and, for a few years, the idea was put on hold. But the idea was still fresh in the minds of its creators; they just needed to find the best place to start it up again, and, like many other like-minded individuals, they headed to Silicon Valley. “Being in that environment, it’s hard to not want to start something because the energy and atmosphere around you is a breeding ground for innovation and creativity. It’s an infectious place where every problem is seemingly surmountable. It’s the only place I’ve been that no matter how difficult the problem, or how hairbrained your solution might sound, you can find plenty of people to believe in you and to back you up with funding and resources. Even if you fail, the people surrounding you working toward your cause are still engaged and want to try again. It’s a place where failures and mistakes are seen as milestones on your journey to success, and that’s truly remarkable.”

Joining PointClickCare

Collective partnered with PointClickCare for years, and Chris mentioned that the more they became connected with the company, the more they saw an extraordinary opportunity for strategic alignment. “Collective Medical has a broad real-time network of hospitals, providers, ACOs, and health plans that help patients as they transition across the continuum of care. However, each transition point is a high-risk opportunity where things can go wrong and adversely affect the clinical outcome of the patient. Marrying our platform and network resources with PointClickCare’s extraordinary depth within the verticals of the LTPAC community is a lot like having your cake and eating it too.”

Chris also said that, in his opinion, our culture is also what makes PointClickCare a leader in the market. “For me, it isn’t all about our market share, because that is only one part of the story. What makes us a leader are the unified and complementary mission, vision, values, and culture that have been carefully cultivated at this organization. PointClickCare is customer centric, it is people centric. Everything we do is geared toward what serves the interests of the patient. We are entirely uninterested and unwilling to do anything that doesn’t directly support our customers and their patients, and that makes us a categorical leader in my book.”

On Leadership and Being an Entrepreneur

When we asked Chris what he considers to be the most important leadership characteristic, he said there wasn’t any one single attribute, but instead, a continuum. “I am always hesitant to tell people what makes a good leader, because I think I’m still learning that myself and also realizing that leadership is a constant learning experience, and the needs vary by stage and organization. The best leaders are the ones who have the humility, empathy, and confidence to keep learning how to be a better leader at each stage along the journey.”

Regarding future entrepreneurs, Chris did have some advice to offer about what is oftentimes described as a chaotic journey. “I think the most important thing to know is that failure is an essential (and painful) part of the journey. We all know the statistics—most start-ups are not successful. Would-be entrepreneurs are constantly imagining the worst-case scenario and letting the fear keep them from discovering their potential. What I want them to know is that the reality of that worst-case scenario is much worse in their imagination than it is in real life. Even in that worst-case scenario, you are learning things like how to start a business, management techniques, finding a market fit, how to go to market, and how to interreact with customers. Failure breeds determination, grit, and hustle, and those are admirable qualities.”

Thanks for sharing with us, Chris!