Alexis Smirnov, the co-founder and CTO of Dialogue (dialogue.co), discusses the changing times in regard to healthcare and how virtual healthcare options are becoming more commonplace. Dialogue is the top Canadian telehealth service and Smirnov is passionate about the future of healthcare. Smirnov has many years of experience in the design and development of social analytics systems, search engine technology, conversational mobile apps, and more. He has played an integral role in the building of products and services for various startups and Fortune 100 companies. Smirnov is continually intrigued by transformational technologies and the practical methods to bring them to market, and his passion for tech led him to his work as CTO at Dialogue.

Smirnov discusses how technology is changing the way we receive healthcare. His company, Dialogue, was founded in 2016 by co-founders who saw an incredible need for access to better health care, and they set out to solve the problem via technology. Dialogue offers virtual healthcare solutions for employees, and impactful benefits for businesses and their platform provides forward-thinking, premium, affordable health care options for Canadian companies and individuals. The Dialogue team is comprised of many skilled entrepreneurs, developers, sales experts, designers, customer service specialists, engineers, and quality assurance experts who work collaboratively to devise the best strategies to tackle modern healthcare issues. And their medical team features some of the most highly respected healthcare professionals in Canada who practice virtual healthcare and seek to bring the best care to everyone.

Smirnov describes the problems of traditional healthcare settings in regard to treating patients, and how a virtual care team can alleviate some of the burdens on the system, long waiting times, and more. He describes how many companies will choose to offer virtual healthcare as a corporate benefit, as many employees may find it helpful to have treatment and advice from qualified healthcare workers right on their smartphone… in an app. He discusses the use of photos in the treatment process, such as a skin issue, for example, in which a user could photograph their particular skin issue, send the photo via the app, and get a doctor or health care worker's advice on treatment right away. He states this method could sometimes allow care to come within minutes, as opposed to days or weeks in a traditional setting. And by cutting overhead through the use of technology, doctors can often reduce their time with paperwork and give more time to patients, which as Smirnov states, is what everyone wants.

Smirnov details how many companies are seeing the benefits of offering this virtual healthcare option to their employees, and as such Dialogue is growing at an incredible rate. He expects that the transition from physical first to digital first healthcare will create a booming industry for virtual care providers. As doctors and hospital administrators learn more about the service, Smirnov mentions that they are always surprised that the system has not been put in place earlier, and they quickly gravitate toward the service as they see that the benefits are boundless.