Dialogue’s 2021
Year in Review

In many ways, 2021 turned out to be a lot like 2020: more hand sanitizer, more work from home, a couple of lockdowns here and there… Needless to say, the pandemic has certainly left its mark on humanity. The second half of this last year held some more encouraging developments, though: the COVID-19 vaccine, plummeting pandemic-related hospitalizations, and decreasing rate of infections! There is so much more to celebrate now that progress is being made.

Our year in review explores the milestones and achievements we strived towards every day on our path to fulfill our main mission: improving humanity’s well-being by using technology to deliver excellent care.

For

Members

In-app optimizations

We take great pride in the Dialogue application optimizations that have been implemented this year. Our team is always striving to make access to care easy and inclusive to all members, and we’re able to do so by incorporating important feedback from real Dialogue users!

Members
app-simpler-experience

Simpler experience

Members can now search for their symptoms from a curated list with smart matching.

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Improved autonomy

Members can quickly see which days have available appointments.

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Centralized care plans

Members can quickly find care plans sent to them by the care team.

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Accessible web app

Our web application meets AODA (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act) compliance requirements, making it accessible to members with any visual, physical, cognitive, or audio disability.

app-preferred-names-improvemens

Preferred name improvements

Diversity and inclusion are a top priority for Dialogue. Our application now allows members to share a preferred first name as well as a gender identity, ensuring that we address all of our members correctly.

Member stories

“While on vacation in a chalet in the middle of the woods but with an internet connection, I was able to deal with a clinical nurse from Dialogue to obtain a prescription for a urinary tract infection I was struggling with. We chatted, and she told me that she was sending the prescription to a pharmacy in the town the chalet was located in. 30 minutes later, I was called from the pharmacy to let me know they had received the prescription and were preparing it for me. Thank you to my employer for subscribing to this service! I was able to relieve my infection quickly and enjoy my stay.”

Michelle L.

“I received a service that exceeded my expectations with Dialogue! In addition to being a quick solution, I was able to consult professionals from home by video call via their platform, which saves me time and money. They follow up to make sure everything is okay! In addition, I asked questions very late in the day, and I was told that I was going to have answers by early morning. Much to my astonishment, they answered me around midnight and I had everything I needed to make an appointment the next morning (on a weekend!). What more can I say? Just WOW!”

Annie L.

“Moving to Montreal for a new job, I arrived with my family and no family doctor or network of friends to reach out to in order to find one. My company uses Dialogue to support the staff in getting access to appropriate care. I had the opportunity to use the service within my first couple of weeks and found that Dialogue helped me navigate the system and get access to a medical professional right away. This saved me tons of personal time, and also reduced the overhead on an overburdened medical system.”

Sean W.

For

Clients and Partners

Health and wellness services in one single app: Dialogue’s Integrated Health Platform™

Our Integrated Health Platform™ (IHP) was built on the principles amassed through rigorous research and interviews with HR managers and Dialogue’s existing members. The app represents a one-stop shop for any health inquiry, created specifically to eliminate the pain points of managing multiple benefits programs. Its launch at the beginning of this year aimed to help both employers and their organizational members reap the benefits of accessing health and wellness professionals via a single app.

Clients

Our IHP integrates three care programs in one single portal:

  • Primary Care, providing virtual access to treat non-urgent physical issues;

  • Stress + Mental Health, improving well-being and productivity through a blend of clinically-proven self-led therapy and robust practitioner-led services; and

  • Employee Assistance Program (EAP), providing essential wellness services to stay happy and healthy, integrated into a modern digital-first platform that employees love.

Learn more about how our
virtual EAP is revolutionizing
the healthcare industry.

Learn more
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iCBT_gif_EN

A strategic acquisition to support growing mental health concerns

May 2021 brought with it the acquisition of Australia-based iCBT leader, ehub Health. The partnership has allowed Dialogue to offer a robust iCBT (internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy) suite integrated into our own Integrated Health Platform, the goal being to complement traditional mental health offerings with a self-led component.

This acquisition rounds out Dialogue’s end-to-end approach to mental healthcare and creates a differentiated offering that is unparalleled in the Canadian market.

Our second annual conference on employee wellness,

Humanizing Healthcare

Designed for organizational leaders, HR professionals, insurance carriers, employee benefits consultants, and those who are interested in leading happier, healthier teams, our second annual conference featured industry-leading keynote speakers covering a range of topics including:

  • Exploring the workplaces of the future and trends in health benefits
  • Expanding the definition of employee well-being
  • Inspirational examples and actionable tips to apply
    within an organization
  • Solutions to elevate employee well-being and improve organizational culture

Our presenters’ backgrounds varied – from psychologists to diversity and inclusion specialists, to corporate executives, to an astronaut (yes, seriously!) – but all rooted for the same common goal: the importance of wellness at work.

Relive the presentations from our 2021 event.

Learn more
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Awards

We’ve been the
happy recipients
of multiple awards🏆

Awards
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Dialogue placed 9th


in a list of 448 of the fastest-growing companies in
The Globe and Mail’s annual Report on Business ranking of Canada’s Top Growing Companies.

We’ve also been told we’re a pretty great place to work… Actually, we’ve been certified!

2021_Fast50-Winner_Deloitte_EN

Finally, we finished off the fall season with a nod from Deloitte by being recognized as a winner in the Fast 50 category in the 2021 Deloitte Technology Fast 50 program! Sitting happily in 8th place out of 50, our rapid revenue growth, entrepreneurial spirit and bold innovation helped make us a worthy contender.

Rewarding ambition

One of our values is that we are Shackletons!
We set ambitious goals and do everything humanly possible to get there, even when the odds are stacked against us. Some recipients of our Shackleton Award who have reflected this value over 2021 include:

  • Profile-George-Nansi
    George Nansi Manager, Workforce Management
  • Profile-Armanda-Teixeira
    Armanda Teixeira Payroll Manager
  • Profile-Jessica-Soulbane
    Jessica Soulbane Manager, Talent & Culture Operations
  • Profile-Vanessa-Jones
    Vanessa Jones Product Manager
  • Profile-Camille-Dionne
    Camille Dionne Manager, Talent Acquisition
  • Profile-Alex-Despaties
    Alex Despaties Team Lead, Optima EAP
  • Profile-Thomas-Neubauer
    Thomas Neubauer Manager, Occupational Safety, Germany
  • Profile-Gerry-Greco
    Gerry Greco Manager & Advisor, Clinical Team
  • Profile-Hayden-Cole
    Hayden Cole Account Development Representative

Innovation and Hackathons

Our quarterly internal hackathons have also allowed Dialogue employees to make suggestions for ways we would improve our product and work cross-functionally on those solutions. Some winning ideas from this year include:

“Dialogue Babies”

Much-needed support can be disjointed and sometimes inadequate when starting a family. We’re looking to develop functionality that will accompany parents (prenatal and postpartum) and make sure no questions go unanswered.

“Checkup”

Every year, 3 million Canadians battle cancer. We want to provide better educational material and develop functionality to help assess a patient’s possible risk level and contribute to early prevention.

“It’s all connected!”

Canadians love their fitness watches; in fact, 15% to 30% of us are having our vitals, physical activity and nutrition tracked as we speak! We hope to create an integration that provides custom, proactive insights to better manage health outcomes.

Culture

Dialogue
by the numbers

Culture
We now serve over 10%

of the Canadian population

We hit the 1 million

consultations milestone

Our Dialogue team grew 41%

since 2020

22

Dialogue babies were born

Life at Dialogue

Community involvement has always been important at Dialogue. We encourage employees to look outside of themselves to get involved with organizations or causes that can use the extra help while benefiting from some sorely missed face-to-face time with colleagues. Here are some of our highlights from this year.

Running and walking for United Way Centraide

The race to the South Pole was on! Well… not literally, but teams tracked the number of kilometres travelled walking or running on Strava. Together, 125 employees covered over 21,000 KM, raising close to $30,000 to help fight poverty through United Way Centraide.

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Rallye Sainte-Justine

Dialogue participated in the Halloween Rallye for Sainte-Justine to raise over $2,300 for pediatric medicine to the next level and save even more young lives.

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Opération Père Noël

Dialogue employees hope to spread a little holiday cheer by gifting wishlist items to young children and teens through the Opération Père Noël network.

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CEO for the day

What would you do if you were CEO for the day?
This is the question we surveyed Dialogue employees to submit ideas for. The ideas we committed to implementing included three extra mental health days per employee as well as half-day Fridays during the summer! The initiative generated hundreds of interesting ideas and more will be rolled out in 2022 and beyond.

Evolution

Our commitment to
diversity and inclusion

Evolution
Tim-Hodgson

Tim Hodgson joined our Board of Directors

With over 15 years of board experience spanning multiple sectors, Tim also chairs Dialogue’s audit committee. Further building the bench strength within our board of directors will allow us to continue delivering on our commitment to delivering high-quality care to our members and customers.

“Dialogue is improving the delivery of healthcare and wellness offered to clients in Canada and around the world. I cannot think of anything more important given what the world has been through in the last 18 months.”
– Tim Hodgson
CanadaLife_Dialogue_iCBT_EN

Canada Life adds Dialogue’s iCBT to Consult+ for all plan members

Canada Life became the first insurer in the country to offer Dialogue’s iCBT program as part of its virtual healthcare offering in December 2021. All Consult+ members across Canada now have access to mental health support anytime, anywhere.

 

Read more

Ringing the bell at TSX 🔔:
A significant achievement of 2021

The market is officially open! On March 30th, 2021, Dialogue celebrated its first day as a public company. The occasion highlighted our ongoing quest to help more Canadians and grow the virtual care industry, launch new services and programs, consolidate Canadian markets through strategic acquisitions, and expand to new geographies. We continue to be so proud of what we’ve been able to achieve thanks to the hard work of our amazing employees and partners, and the continued trust from our clients, partners and their organizational members.
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Cherif_Visual
Cherif Habib, our CEO, shared his thoughts with us on the big day.

Read his thought piece on our transition towards TSX:CARE.

Read now

A few words from our co-founders

Dialoghe_co-founders

Cherif Habib

CEO and Co-Founder

“Bringing Dialogue to market was a special milestone for all of us, both professionally and personally. But it was only one day in our long journey to provide convenient access to quality care to more members and more organizations. Our innovation won’t stop here; we have so much more to look forward to in the months and years to come.”

Anna Chif

CPO and Co-Founder

“Every year, I am in awe of how much is accomplished in such a short time. Dialogue’s fifth year was no exception. It brought us a wealth of new experiences, giving us the opportunity to increase our reach and impact, and forge new relationships with members, colleagues and investors.”

Alexis Smirnov

CTO and Co-Founder

“We’re building systems that power virtual care services available to members and their families. With a volume of patients needing help that is growing every day, great technology is key to dramatically scaling the efficiency and safety of healthcare services.”

We take great pride in the strides we’ve made over the years!

Take a peek at our previous achievements.