As it moves on to Round Three of the annual New Ventures BC Competition presented by Innovate BC, Vancouver-based Ginger Desk has positioned itself as a Virtual Assistant service for health practitioners across North America.
With a keen eye for gaps in the market, natural health expert Dr. Julie Durnan leveraged her 15 years of industry experience to found Ginger Desk after observing how practitioners grappled with admin tasks, especially when clinics closed due to the pandemic in 2020.
“With clinics closing across Canada and the US, I watched as hundreds of my colleagues retreated from brick and mortar clinics, moved spaces and many began opening up in-house offices,” Durnan explains of the effects of Covid-19 policies in 2020.
Ginger Desk sprouted from the understanding that practitioners’ job satisfaction was closely tied to supportive administrative structures, rather than factors like clinic decor or location. While witnessing the struggle of peers handling admin work—from managing bookings to replying emails post bedtime—Durnan envisioned a service that could shoulder these burdens and allow practitioners to focus on their core responsibilities.
“I watched as these practitioners became highly stressed as they began to take on more than solely treating their patients,” Durnan recalls. “They started to run their own practices including all admin tasks . . . The burden became too much and practitioners became overwhelmed.”
As a practitioner, Durnan’s own naturopathic clinic was forced to close. It may have been a blessing in disguise for her.
“I had the time to reflect on what truly made the practitioners at my clinic love practicing with me,” she says. “I realized that it wasn’t the beautiful decor, the location or the free parking. It was our supportive admin team. It was the service we provided to our practitioners and to their patients and the community that we built.”
Ginger Desk’s strength lies in its team of virtual assistants, all trained in the “Ginger Methodology” developed by Durnan from her years of successfully running clinics. This method emphasizes operational and organizational expertise, providing health practitioners with comprehensive administrative support.
Being naturopathic physician-founded and run, Ginger Desk possesses an innate understanding of health practitioners’ needs in a digital environment. With an up-to-date knowledge of health practitioners’ favourite Electronic Medical Records, state-specific regulations, and clinical terminology, the Ginger Desk team comes pre-trained and ready to serve clients.
The startup caters to a wide clientele, from small-scale practice owners to large clinics, ensuring health practitioners at all stages receive the support they need. It also upholds stringent privacy standards, being PIPEDA and HIPAA compliant, ensuring sensitive information is properly handled.
Durnan, who serves her startup as corporate executive officer, affirms the Ginger Methodology can empower professionals to run successful health practices by “setting them up with all the operational and organizational expertise and support needed” to thrive.
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