After the success of the previous editions of Startup Camp Montreal, the folks at Embrase, a business consulting firm in Montreal, have rolled their sleeves to organize a third edition. The event is scheduled 27th November 2008.

The event is a good occasion to pitch and test your plan in front of seasoned investors. The feedback gathered there is invaluable. Gurus and investors are tough enough and if you pass the test, you will know that you are in the right track. It is also the occasion to compare yourself against the other startups present. Competition is always healthy and necessary to push us forward.

So, if you have a startup or an idea of a startup and want to present, go register here.

Your TeleDoctor will be present at the event. Please come and talk to me, I will be more than happy to answer your questions about the product and the exciting things to expect in the next few weeks.

Calling in sick may be a thing of the past, but not for the reason you might think: A poll by www.ehealthforum.com shows that more than 30 percent of people surveyed feel guilty about taking the time to attend a doctor’s appointment during office hours. According to the results, 29 percent of U.S. residents felt “mild to extreme” guilt, while 28 percent of Canadians and 35 percent of British respondents carried the same feelings. Mark Turkovic, co-founder of eHealth Forum, said people often want to be seen as the hardest, longest worker in an effort to preserve their jobs - especially in a down economy. “Sadly, taking the time out to visit the doctor all too often falls by the wayside,” Turkovic said.

At Your TeleDoctor, we believe that such a behaviour can lead to the following consequences:

-Increased Illness and death from stress, hearth disease, cirrhosis and suicide.

-Loss in competitivness due to lack of energy and lack of focus at work. Ultimatly, this situation can lead for you to lose your job.

As discussed in an earlier post, we believe that being able to consult your physician remotely can greatly reduce the likehood of missing a whole day to arrange a doctor visit. This is even more important in the current economic downturn where employers want to keep their jobs at any cost.

Online auto diagnosis can be viewed as the use of the Internet to research for health related reasons, mainly for conditions. In Canada, and according to the NFO CFgroup, a study shows that 75% of Internet users use the Web to search for health-related information. Also, 50% of online Canadians claim that researching health information on the Internet makes them better able to discuss treatment options with their physician. Regarding the most visited Canadian health websites, we have on the top 3:

1. Official Health Canada website.
2. Health sections of Sympatico.ca
3. Health sections of Yahoo.ca 

Concerning the top medical conditions researched online by Canadians, the list is as follows:

1. Depression.
2. Arthritis.
3. Diabetes. 
4. Allergies. 
5. Migraine headaches.
6. Heart condition.

Yes those are lots of statistics.  Let’s take a minute and make a quick analysis.

People are naturally curious, and they tend to talk about their conditions within their close circles before heading to a physician. This comes from a fear of the unknown. There can be many factors that make us reluctant to go to see a physician right away. Among these factors, we can note the waiting time and the accessibility of a physician. So we tend to go online or ask our friends in order to get access to the medical information right away. I came accross the other day on Trusera’s website. I am fortunate enough to not have to sign in and “tell my story”. This website aims to connect people with the same problems. In a sense, they are trying to organize the health information on the web and make it patient/person wise. In my opinion, information should come from physicians. It is legitimate to look at the information online, but we will still be in doubt until we ask a real physician. Medicine is not an exact science and the expertise of a healthcare professional is and will always be, in most cases, the best source of information. 

With Your TeleDoctor, we want to address the void between the visit to a physician and the moment when we start questionning ourselves (online?) or entourage.  Note that the service will be used for minor conditions, only. We had a long talk with our lawyer, as well as with our medical advisor and the best way to avoid lawsuits is to use our service for conditions that are likely to be diagnosed remotely. When we know, that 70% of people that visit a general practionner have minor concerns, we can say that a market opportunity is right there for us. However, the critical question is how to acuratly address this market. 

More to come soon on this question…Please feel free to comment/ask/disturbe my positions.