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,...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Royal College of General Practitioners
2022-09-01
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| Series: | BJGP Open |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://bjgpopen.org/content/6/3/BJGPO.2021.0239 |
| _version_ | 1818058348238471168 |
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| author | Sara Bhatti Simone Dahrouge Laura Muldoon Jennifer Rayner |
| author_facet | Sara Bhatti Simone Dahrouge Laura Muldoon Jennifer Rayner |
| author_sort | Sara Bhatti |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T12:59:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5d19b4a4bde941c8ac82579e559d78c6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2398-3795 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T12:59:12Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | Royal College of General Practitioners |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BJGP Open |
| spelling | doaj.art-5d19b4a4bde941c8ac82579e559d78c62022-12-22T01:48:00ZengRoyal College of General PractitionersBJGP Open2398-37952022-09-016310.3399/BJGPO.2021.0239Virtual care in Ontario community health centres: a cross-sectional study to understand changes in care deliverySara Bhatti0Simone Dahrouge1Laura Muldoon2Jennifer Rayner3Alliance for Healthier Communities, Toronto, CanadaBruyère Research Institute, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, CanadaFamily Physician, Somerset West Community Health Centre, Ottawa, Ontario, CanadaAlliance for Healthier Communities, Toronto, CanadaBackground: 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.https://bjgpopen.org/content/6/3/BJGPO.2021.0239primary health carevirtual caretelemedicinecovid-19 |
| spellingShingle | Sara Bhatti Simone Dahrouge Laura Muldoon Jennifer Rayner Virtual care in Ontario community health centres: a cross-sectional study to understand changes in care delivery BJGP Open primary health care virtual care telemedicine covid-19 |
| title | Virtual care in Ontario community health centres: a cross-sectional study to understand changes in care delivery |
| title_full | Virtual care in Ontario community health centres: a cross-sectional study to understand changes in care delivery |
| title_fullStr | Virtual care in Ontario community health centres: a cross-sectional study to understand changes in care delivery |
| title_full_unstemmed | Virtual care in Ontario community health centres: a cross-sectional study to understand changes in care delivery |
| title_short | Virtual care in Ontario community health centres: a cross-sectional study to understand changes in care delivery |
| title_sort | virtual care in ontario community health centres a cross sectional study to understand changes in care delivery |
| topic | primary health care virtual care telemedicine covid-19 |
| url | https://bjgpopen.org/content/6/3/BJGPO.2021.0239 |
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