Virtual Care & Patient Engagement

Our healthcare system in Ontario adapted quickly to respond to the challenges presented by COVID-19. Virtual care adoption in particular was accelerated, as it reduced the risk of COVID-19 by keeping patients home and out of clinic waiting rooms, while also enabling clinicians to screen symptoms remotely and offer medical advice with no risk of exposure.

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Although virtual care should never fully replace in-person care, it will continue to be a valuable supplement post-pandemic, facilitating convenient, quick, accessible, and equitable care when patients don’t need to be physically assessed. Virtual care options can also free up more time in a clinician's schedule for patients who do need to be seen in-person, and reduce overall costs to the healthcare system (with fewer patients needing to visit a walk-in clinic or emergency department). 

Although demand for virtual care is on the rise, clinicians have been experiencing some challenges when integrating virtual care into their workflows:

• There are many virtual care platforms and methods to choose from
• The amount of options can be confusing and can ultimately lead to a fragmented and technologically siloed workflow
• When virtual care is not implemented appropriately, it can result in unncessary duplication of work, administrative burden, burnout and risk
• A significant amount of time and resources are needed to allow for planning and testing, to ensure the adoption of virtual care is seamless and sustainable

What is virtual care?