Home Smart 100 2011 Physios-online.com (SMART 100)

Physios-online.com (SMART 100)

May 5, 2011

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Physios-online.com

This innovation initially came to life when…

I was sitting on a beach in Dili, East Timor. While the sun was setting, I realised two things: 1) Physiotherapists are placing increasing emphasis on education and exercise programs in injury management; 2) People in remote areas should not miss out on valuable personalised injury information. The idea for an online injury assessment and management clinic was born — despite the concept of Physiotherapy being traditionally linked to ‘hands on’ treatment. In fact, personal injury assessment and management works in an online setting even better than I thought!

WHAT & HOW

The purpose of this innovation is to…

…provide informed, personalised injury advice to time-poor, cash-poor, remote or simply curious individuals. We aim to provide accurate information to people who may otherwise have gone without.

It does this by…

…providing online a short answer/tick box assessment form, tailored to the body part involved. This is then received and reviewed by a physiotherapist. If they have further queries, the therapist may email the patient. The physiotherapist then formulates a likely diagnosis, along with a detailed treatment plan. This will generally involve detailed exercise handouts and/or videos.

PURPOSE & BENEFITS

This innovation improves on what came before because…

…previously, people who couldn’t be bothered with the time, cost, parking or travel involved with a physiotherapy appointment missed out on valuable injury information.

Even if they attended an appointment, they often forgot the information and exercises once they walked out of the door.

General internet searches for injury treatment can provide inaccurate and unsafe information.

Its various benefits to the customer/end-user include…

An online Physio consultation is more cost-effective and time-effective. Advice and programs are written and recorded, improving compliance with rehabilitation.

The tailored approach is much safer than individuals’ googling the plethora of (often incorrect) injury advice online.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

In the past, this problem was solved by…

…individuals without any medical knowledge trawling the Internet for injury management info. Sometimes this worked, but often the individual ended up with conflicting and, at times, unsafe advice. Alternatively, people would leave their injury untreated, which would predispose them to recurrences and chronicity. Some, of course, would attend a hands on physiotherapist — helpful for some, overkill for others.

Its predecessors/competitors include…

There is only one other site I could find doing a similar thing: PhysioBench. It is English. We hope to forge into unchartered ground with face-to-face consultations, which will make us the only ones I can find in the world!

TARGET MARKET

It is made for…

Computer literate males and females, predominantly in the 25 to 55 age category. Our target audience is likely to be people who work on a computer, or use the internet frequently.

Let’s face it: men are less likely than women to want to attend a ‘real’ Physio appointment, so hopefully they will find Physios Online more appealing.

DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY

It is available for sale through…

…the web site www.physios-online.com. There is a lot of information on the site, including the ability to ask a physiotherapist free quick questions. The ‘Comprehensive Injury Analysis’ section is for the paid online consultations.

Our marketing strategy is to…

…first of all, convince people that a physiotherapist doesn’t need to put their hands on you to be effective. It is very important that we build credibility and trust in the service.

Marketing is the biggest challenge for this business, and is something we are on a steep learning curve about!

SUPPORTING IMAGES

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