Many virtual care platforms were established in 2020 to address barriers to in-person care during the COVID-19 pandemic. A limitation of many platforms was their lack of depth in providing speciality care. Many existing services were set up to only deliver primary care and were staffed with only Family Physicians. A new virtual care start-up in Toronto sought to position itself as a multi-specialty virtual care clinic and engaged MDconsultants to assist specifically with developing a robust roster of physician providers in multiple medical and surgical specialties.

Recruitment and retention of physicians who were proponents of virtual care in multiple medical and surgical specialties was by far the most difficult aspect of getting this company’s platform off the ground. While the technology worked, convincing clinicians to dedicate valuable clinical time to a new platform during its growth phase with traditional financial incentives proved difficult for the platform’s founders.