Cargando…

Virtual care in Ontario community health centres: a cross-sectional study to understand changes in care delivery

BACKGROUND: There has been a large-scale adoption of virtual delivery of primary care as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. AIM: In this descriptive study, an equity lens is used to explore the impact of transitioning to greater use of virtual care in community health centres (CHCs) across Ontario,...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Bhatti, Sara, Dahrouge, Simone, Muldoon, Laura, Rayner, Jennifer
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Royal College of General Practitioners 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9680745/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35228196
http://dx.doi.org/10.3399/BJGPO.2021.0239
Descripción
Sumario:BACKGROUND: There has been a large-scale adoption of virtual delivery of primary care as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. AIM: In this descriptive study, an equity lens is used to explore the impact of transitioning to greater use of virtual care in community health centres (CHCs) across Ontario, Canada. DESIGN & SETTING: A cross-sectional survey was administered and electronic medical record (EMR) data were extracted from 36 CHCs. METHOD: The survey captured CHCs‘ experiences with the increased adoption of virtual care. A longitudinal analysis of the EMR data was conducted to evaluate changes in health service delivery. EMR data were extracted monthly for a period of time before the pandemic (April 2019–February 2020) and during (April 2020–February 2021). RESULTS: In comparison with the pre-pandemic period, CHCs experienced a moderate decline in visits made (11%), patients seen (9%), issues addressed (9%), and services provided (15%). During the pandemic period, an average of 54% of visits were conducted virtually, with telephone as the leading virtual modality (96%). Drops in service types ranged from 28%–82%. The distribution of virtual modalities varied according to the provider type. Access to in-person and virtual care did not vary across patient characteristics. CONCLUSION: The results demonstrate a large shift towards virtual delivery while maintaining in-person care. No meaningful differences were found in virtual versus in-person care related to patient characteristics or rurality of centres. Future studies are needed to explore how to best select the appropriate modality for patients and service types.