Corus Orthodontists: Transforming Multi-Practice Operations with Coupa and Acquis
Acquis partnered with Corus Orthodontists to implement Coupa and integrate its existing ERP through AcquisLink®.
Empowering orthodontists across North America
Since 2019, Corus Orthodontists (Corus) has rapidly emerged as a leading orthodontic partnership network across North America. Its innovative partnership model — one that provides robust centralized business support while preserving the clinical autonomy orthodontists value — continues to drive its success, enabling the organization to grow to over 70 doctor-partners and 1,000 team members across more than 75 locations in just a few years.
When success outpaces infrastructure
"Our vision was always to create a network where orthodontists could focus on exceptional patient care while benefiting from shared business expertise," says Gabe Mazzarolo, VP of Technology & Systems at Corus. "But as we expanded, we realized our decentralized operational model needed stronger systems to truly deliver on that promise."
The rapid expansion of the Corus network created significant operational challenges that threatened to undermine its core value proposition:
Fragmented purchasing power: With dozens of practices making independent purchasing decisions, Corus was missing substantial opportunities for network-wide savings
Administrative inefficiency: Each location maintained its own accounts payable process, creating redundant workflows and inconsistent documentation
Financial visibility gaps: Leadership lacked real-time insight into spending patterns across the network, making strategic financial planning difficult
Uncontrolled expenses: A significant portion of expenses flowed through corporate cards with limited oversight, creating compliance and tracking challenges
Unsustainable manual processes: The corporate finance team spent countless hours chasing documentation and reconciling disparate systems
"We were drowning in administrative work that added no value to patient care," explains Gabe. "Our finance team spent valuable time processing transactions instead of analyzing spend, which would drive practice growth. We needed a solution that would eliminate these inefficiencies without forcing our practices into a rigid corporate structure that would stifle their individual character."
The search for a strategic solution
Recognizing that the right technology platform would be critical to addressing these challenges, Corus initiated a comprehensive evaluation process. The team assessed both dental-specific tools and enterprise procurement solutions against several key criteria:
Scalability to accommodate continued network expansion
Seamless integration with their existing Sage Intacct ERP system
User-friendly interfaces suitable for clinical environments
Proven success in multi-location healthcare settings
Robust reporting capabilities
After thorough evaluation, Coupa emerged as the clear frontrunner. Corus selected Acquis Consulting Group (Acquis) to manage the implementation, valuing the firm's specialized expertise in similar operational models and its proprietary AcquisLink® connector for Sage Intacct integration.
Building a transformation framework
The implementation team developed a strategic approach that respected Corus's decentralized culture while introducing standardized processes where they mattered most:
Comprehensive digital ecosystem: Acquis deployed a full suite of Coupa modules including Procure-to-Pay, Coupa Pay, Expense Management, and InvoiceSmash, creating an end-to-end procurement platform
Seamless financial integration: Using AcquisLink, the team established a near real-time connection between Coupa and Sage Intacct, eliminating manual data transfer and providing immediate financial visibility
Replicable onboarding process: The team created standardized templates and procedures for adding new practices and vendors, making expansion more efficient without sacrificing flexibility
Enhanced spend controls: Corporate card integration with automated expense categorization improved compliance while reducing administrative burden
Acquis understood that our doctors needed both autonomy and insight. The solution they designed gives our practices the freedom to make their own purchasing decisions while providing the data and tools to make those decisions more strategically.
Beyond efficiency to strategic advantage
The implementation delivered substantial benefits that extended far beyond basic operational improvements:
Financial transformation
With comprehensive visibility into network-wide purchasing patterns, Corus identified significant consolidation opportunities. Through strategic supplier negotiations and targeted RFPs, the organization secured significant savings through improved pricing and volume-based discounts.
Operational efficiency
By centralizing accounts payable functions, Corus consolidated many separate workflows into a streamlined process managed by just three team members — dramatically reducing administrative overhead and allowing practice team members to focus on patient care.
Strategic intelligence
Where financial reporting had once been retrospective and incomplete, leadership now had access to real-time spending data. This allowed practices to benchmark expenses against performance, identify outliers, and make data-driven business decisions.
Scalable growth platform
The standardized infrastructure made it significantly easier to onboard new practices without proportionally increasing overhead. Procurement and expense processes became consistent and transparent, supporting the network's continued expansion.
The visibility we've gained has been transformative. Before, we were making educated guesses about our spending patterns. Now, we have concrete data that drives significant savings and helps each practice optimize their operations. Just as importantly, we've freed our team members from administrative burdens so they can focus on what matters most: delivering exceptional orthodontic care to our patients.
A foundation for continued innovation
With its procurement platform deployed, Corus continues to build on this foundation. The partnership between Corus and Acquis remains active, now focused on leveraging rich data to identify new opportunities for optimization and growth.
"This transformation has reinforced what makes our model special," concludes Gabe. "We've proven that with the right systems and partners, we can deliver the benefits of scale without sacrificing the independence and entrepreneurial spirit that attracted our doctor partners in the first place. It's not just about saving money — it's about creating a sustainable platform that helps orthodontic specialists thrive together."
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