"Build, be flexible, and the patients will come?" â€" lessons learned in e-consulting

This reflective paper documents the author's involvement over the course of five years with Doctor Global Ltd, (www.doctorglobal.com), a small New Zealand health information technology (IT) company, that changed substantially over that period as it developed a series of excellent telehealth products that were consistently ahead of their time. The progression in the company's business direction is described and the lessons learned by the author are detailed. It is concluded that timing the entry of new products into the health IT market, and the development of the markets themselves, are more important to a small company than the actual quality or clinical usefulness of the product developed.