Its Ontario-based creator says it's a kind of an Uber for medical services — and its absolutely legit.
It's called Maple — a web site and app that allows patients to consult with a doctor by phone or by video, and even get a prescription sent to your drugstore.
Maple's co-founder, Dr. Brett Belchetz, says in most cases, the doctor is able to make diagnoses remotely, without having to touch you. Belchetz, a Toronto-based emergency room doc, says his doctors would still recommend a face-to-face exam with your own doctor if there's an ailment they can't diagnose — though he says anywhere from 70 to 90 per cent of Maple's patients manage to get their issues resolved online.
"You would go onto our app, and it works on any iPhone or Android phone, and it works on any computer, and you would click a button to request to get the next available doctor," Belchetz told CJAD 800's Aaron Rand. "And just like with Uber, what happens is our system puts out a notification out to the whole group of doctors, and the first available doctor will actually pick up your request and you are connected to that doctor for an online visit.
Belchetz says the average wait time to get set up with a doctor is about a minute and a half.
The concept isn't new — Belchetz says a system like this exists in just about every corner of the developed world.
"This has been happening for years in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand — almost every other country in the developed world has has a really huge emergence of online medicine," he says. "And if you look around the world, millions of patients have been treated this way over the past few years."
The fact that you're not having an actual physical meeting with a doctor, Belchetz says, doesn't have an effect on the quality of the diagnosis.
About 300 doctors from all 10 provinces put some time in on Maple.
There is a catch to all of this convenience — it will cost you. On weekdays, it'll cost $49 per consultation, while the rate goes up during evenings, nights, and weekends — up to $99 for an overnight consultation.
If the doctor can't solve your problem and recommends a face-to-face visit with your doctor, you won't be charged.
Belchetz hopes that eventually, governments across the country will chose to have the consultations covered by their medicare programs.
"It is our hope that at some point in time that they will say this is a valuable service and we will choose to cover it," he said.