Virtual Care

Services de première ligne et équité en santé à l’ère numérique : défis et opportunités

Bien que les soins de santé au Canada soient publics, les individus à faible revenu rencontrent trop souvent des obstacles pour accéder aux services de santé, ce qui nuit à leur santé.

Challenges and opportunities for primary care and health equity in the age of technology

Even though health care in Canada is publicly funded, individuals with low incomes too often face barriers when it comes to accessing health-care services, which can adversely impact their overall health.

The wellness profiteers of virtual health care

The virtual care industry has boomed in part due to the decline of primary care. But with it has come a host of wellness scams blurring the lines between evidence-based and unproven health-care remedies.

Beam me up, doc: Adding touch and feel to virtual reality

New developments in virtual medicine could soon allow doctors to "touch" patients and provide even more comprehensive exams remotely.

Virtual care must be integrated into public system, not driven by profit

Virtual care is here to stay. But how it should be used and who should own the services are important to patients, OurCare survey shows.

OurCare survey highlights lack of access to primary care

A nation-wide survey on the state of primary care in Canada illuminates pressing issues facing our health system. Dr. Tara Kiran and a team of collaborators with the OurCare project have launched an online dashboard with the findings.

‘Please don’t come back’: Using virtual care to prevent readmissions

In Canada, one in 11 patients is readmitted within 30 days of being discharged from hospital. But virtual care can help reduce readmissions, cut costs, and reduce pressures on the health-care system.

Virtual care is here to stay. But what are patients’ expectations?

As we redesign a better primary care system coming out of the pandemic, we need to consider the role of virtual care and what patients will expect.

Designing virtual and physical clinical spaces to build trust

The clinical spaces that surround us are not passive; they can enhance or hinder our effectiveness as health-care providers. Research has shown the built environment can affect a number of outcomes for patients as well as improve workplace safety and satisfaction for providers.

National licensure, better virtual-care needed to fix system ‘close to the precipice’: incoming CMA president

Dr. Alika Lafontaine sat down with Healthy Debate to talk about the challenges facing our health-care system as it grapples with pandemic recovery.

Access to virtual care highlights urban/rural divide

The move to virtual care is leaving some communities behind. For rural Canadians, especially those in remote and Indigenous communities, there are obstacles to seeing a doctor both in person and online.

The digital revolution is upon us; how can e-prescribing help alleviate the click burden?

As we continue returning to a semblance of normalcy, it’s important we don’t lose the progress that we’ve made in safe and effective virtual care. e-Prescribing tools should continue to be a part of safer and more efficient medication management.

Twenty years of talk is enough: Digital tools like e-prescribing must become a core part of our health-care system

When the pandemic started and social distancing necessitated a switch to virtual care almost overnight, our digital health-care system struggled and sometimes failed entirely. This broken system must end now. Here's how we can fix it.

Children’s visits to emergency departments surge as winter looms

Pediatric emergency departments are seeing record numbers of visits since some families can’t see their family doctors or go to walk-in clinics. More patients mean longer waits, hindering care for some children with emergency conditions.

‘What’s the appropriate amount of virtual care? It’s not zero, and it’s not 100’

Provincial governments are urging family doctors to resume in-person visits, arguing that virtual care increases pressure on ERs and leads to poorer health outcomes. But some doctors counter that it improves accessibility, among other benefits.

Telemedicine proves its value for trans and non-binary community

The pandemic has led to a rise in virtual care, which has increased access to primary care for the transgender and non-binary communities. But this trend highlights the relative lack of gender-affirming care available through traditional primary care.

‘We became more confident’: Pandemic proving value of no-touch abortions

The pandemic accelerated the roll out of telemedicine abortion care. Now, as restrictions on clinical medicine ease, we must consider whether to revert back to in-person assessments, or embrace telemedicine as a new normal.

‘I need to do something about this’: Virtual care fills need in treatment of eating disorders

Many eating-disorder treatments were forced to move online during the pandemic. Service providers and participants say they're surprised by how successful virtual supports have been.

The fog of virtual care

In the switch to home care during the pandemic, my patients have been reduced to their diagnosis. The guy with bladder cancer … instead of James with the porcelain dolls.

Caring for caregivers: How a phone call can change everything

Canadian caregivers save our healthcare system the equivalent of more than $30 billion every year by providing more than 80 per cent of the care within our communities, yet they remain vulnerable to the impacts of caregiver stress and burnout they commonly experience.