Posted by Knowlton Thomas on Fri, March 2, 2012 – in Tech Vibes Canada continues to lead the world in online enagement, according to new data from comScore. The 2012 Canada Digital Future in Focus report reveals that web users spend an average of 45 hours online per month. The study also found that, while Facebook is “nearing” its saturation point in Canada, other social networks are still growing rapidly, most notably Twitter and LinkedIn. Online video has also emerged as a big deal, with views up 58%. Google’s YouTube accounts for half of all online video viewing in Canada. “The digital media industry in Canada is evolving in extraordinary ways, largely driven by today’s multi-platform consumer engaging with content across a variety of media,” said Bryan Segal, vice president, comScore Canada. “2012 is poised to be a defining year for digital as consumers grow their engagement with social, video, mobile and other emerging media. As Canadian businesses shift more of their ad dollars and investments online, it is more important than ever to understand the key trends being seen across platforms to devise effective marketing strategies and deliver digital ROI.” Other trends include the social evolution of digital advertising, such as socially published ads and socially enabled ads. And of course, who can ignore the mobile sea change: smartphone penetration has reached 45% in Canada and daily usage is growing by 50%. WHY DO I CARE YOU ASK – well, hold your horses oh impatient one!!!
Vancouver web startup Connect the Doc has expanded its online marketing and booking platform to the dentist community. CTD, which has already established its plaform in the fields of chiropractic, physiotherapy and massage therapy, is looking to facilitate “improved relationships between private healthcare professionals and patients.” “Connect the Doc has provided some fantastic results for the current private practitioners on our site,” said Nadeem Kasaam, CEO of Connect the Doc. “What we are really excited about, and what sparked the idea of Connect the Doc, was the potential benefits to the dental community. Dentistry has been a family business for us, and we’ve seen firsthand the challenges associated with growing a clinic. Connect the Doc is an intuitive system that helps clinics acquire new patients through online appointment bookings. Our platform ultimately solves many of the daily operational and marketing challenges that clinics face on a daily basis.” The dentist platform will be officially announced at the 2012 Pacific Dental Conference on March 8 at the Vancouver Convention Center (booth #1245). “We are proud to be launching Connect the Doc for dentists at the Pacific Dental Conference, a conference that brings out the brightest minds in the industry to one major event,” added Nadeem.
And how long before this says DENTAL – (Steve I can see you with St. Peter, chatting up the new big thing! We miss ya buddy, sob!)
Toronto’s HealthAware.ca announced the expansion of its service today with the launch of its free online appointment-booking feature for diagnostic imaging clinics in the Greater Toronto Area and specific regions of Ontario. “With HealthAware’s online appointment-booking application patients no longer have to wait several weeks or longer to get an appointment with a diagnostic imaging clinic in their area,” said Nikolai Bratkovski, HealthAware CEO and Co-Founder. “Patients can now book and verify their appointment – instantly online – while taking advantage of last minute openings.” HealthAware wants to brings efficiency and transparency to the Canadian health care system, resulting in quicker apoointment times for patients. As of today, diagnostic imaging clinics are offering more than 5,000 appointments in the Greater Toronto Area and regions of Ontario through HealthAware. Additional doctors, specialties (dental clinics, chiropractors, RMT, physiotherapy) and appointment times and regions throughout Ontario will be added in the coming months. To use the service, patients visit the HealthAware website to enter their location, and the type of medical specialty they wish to visit. HealthAware then shows healthcare provider’s schedules in real-time, along with credentials and patient reviews, in order to help patients choose a doctor or clinic that best fits their needs. Patients simply select a time slot and complete a brief checkout process to book an appointment. HealthAware then sends email and phone call reminders to help patients remember to attend their appointments.
