9/18/2023 0 Comments Virtual visits![]() There is, at present, limited empirical evidence about how patients view virtual care and more specifically virtual visits, how such care affects overall primary care use, and whether integration of virtual visits in existing relationships or more as a “walk-in” service matters. ![]() Virtual care is also understood as a means of making care more convenient to patients and is gaining momentum in the United States and other advanced health systems alongside other innovations such as retail clinics and other forms of walk-in care. Virtual care can, for example, increase access to care for individuals who have difficulty presenting in-person for primary care services, such as those living in long-term care facilities and/or those with mobility issues. This is, at least in part, a response to a growing focus on patient-centered care that aims to provide care that is both “accessible” and “acceptable”. The US health care provider Kaiser Permanente has altered their delivery of health care services to improve information continuity and to provide easy access to appropriate care for patients through initiatives such as electronic messaging with the care team, scheduled telephone visits, and a comprehensive patient portal. Some health systems are integrating virtual care into primary care practices as a complement to existing modes of care. ![]() New modes of contact, including virtual visits, are one potential way to solve at least some of these access issues. There are well-documented accessibility issues in urban areas as well, whereby many patients do not have a regular primary care physician or cannot access their physician for in-person appointments within a timeframe that meets their current needs. However, limited access to primary care is not a feature of rural areas only. ![]() Ĭanada is a geographically large country, and physicians are disproportionately clustered within urban and semiurban settings, with known shortages of primary care providers in more rural and remote areas. Consultations may be asynchronous, whereby patients answer structured clinical questions online and then receive care from a physician at a later time (“e-visits”), or synchronous, whereby patients interact with physicians in real time via telephone (“teleconsultations”), videoconference (“virtual visits”), or even by text. “Virtual care” is a broad term meant to capture all clinical interactions in health care that do not involve the patient and provider being in the same room at the same time. A greater orientation to information technology in primary care opens new possibilities for health care delivery, one of which is virtual care. ![]()
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