It was intended as an interim measure to protect people during the pandemic, but now that doctors across Canada have embraced virtual care, some clinicians and patients would like to see it continue.
It was intended as an interim measure to protect people during the pandemic, but now that doctors across Canada have embraced virtual care, some clinicians and patients would like to see it continue.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced more than $240 million in funding to expand the capacity for virtual health care by, among other things, creating digital platforms and apps and improving access to online mental health supports.
Moving some services online could ease the burden on the health care system when patients don’t need to see their family physician, pediatrician or nurse practitioner in person.
Dr. Danielle Martin, a family physician with Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, has been delivering virtual care as part of COVID-19 precautions. She says she’s watched an “explosion” in virtual delivery of primary and specialty care across Canada and globally.
“Once you’ve got that relationship established [with a patient], a phone call can go a really long way in solving lots of problems,” Martin said.
She gave the example of someone monitoring their blood pressure at home, emailing their readings to their doctor and then having a seven-minute phone call to renew a prescription for medications.
In the 1980s, Canada was considered a pioneer in the use of telemedicine to deliver health services to rural communities at a time other countries weren’t thinking about it, Martin said.
Since then, broader uptake in Canada’s publicly funded health care system has been slow, and private virtual health apps have taken off. But now, amid the pandemic, all provinci