"Technology has allowed us to do a lot more but it's not necessarily the panacea for everybody": Family physician perspectives on virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
<h4>Introduction</h4>Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Canadian primary care practices rapidly adapted to provide care virtually. Most family physicians lacked prior training or expertise with virtual care. In the absence of formal guidance, they made individual decisions about in-person v...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2024-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0296768&type=printable |
| _version_ | 1797266367301287936 |
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| author | Lindsay Hedden Sarah Spencer Maria Mathews Emily Gard Marshall Julia Lukewich Shabnam Asghari Paul Gill Rita K McCracken Crystal Vaughan Eric Wong Richard Buote Leslie Meredith Lauren Moritz Dana Ryan Gordon Schacter |
| author_facet | Lindsay Hedden Sarah Spencer Maria Mathews Emily Gard Marshall Julia Lukewich Shabnam Asghari Paul Gill Rita K McCracken Crystal Vaughan Eric Wong Richard Buote Leslie Meredith Lauren Moritz Dana Ryan Gordon Schacter |
| author_sort | Lindsay Hedden |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <h4>Introduction</h4>Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Canadian primary care practices rapidly adapted to provide care virtually. Most family physicians lacked prior training or expertise with virtual care. In the absence of formal guidance, they made individual decisions about in-person versus remote care based on clinical judgement, their longitudinal relationships with patients, and personal risk assessments. Our objective was to explore Canadian family physicians' perspectives on the strengths and limitations of virtual care implementation for their patient populations during the COVID-19 pandemic and implications for the integration of virtual care into broader primary care practice.<h4>Methods</h4>We conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with family physicians working in four Canadian jurisdictions (Vancouver Coastal health region, British Columbia; Southwestern Ontario; the province of Nova Scotia; and Eastern Health region, Newfoundland and Labrador). We analyzed interview data using a structured applied thematic approach.<h4>Results</h4>We interviewed 68 family physicians and identified four distinct themes during our analysis related to experiences with and perspectives on virtual care: (1) changes in access to primary care; (2) quality and efficacy of care provided virtually; (3) patient and provider comfort with virtual modalities; and (4) necessary supports for virtual care moving forward.<h4>Conclusions</h4>The move to virtual care enhanced access to care for select patients and was helpful for family physicians to better manage their panels. However, virtual care also created access challenges for some patients (e.g., people who are underhoused or living in areas without good phone or internet access) and for some types of care (e.g., care that required access to medical devices). Family physicians are optimistic about the ongoing integration of virtual care into broader primary care delivery, but guidance, regulations, and infrastructure investments are needed to ensure equitable access and to maximize quality of care. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T16:28:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a21a8d49805748b696a8b93e03bdc4ca |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-25T00:59:34Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-a21a8d49805748b696a8b93e03bdc4ca2024-03-11T05:32:16ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032024-01-01192e029676810.1371/journal.pone.0296768"Technology has allowed us to do a lot more but it's not necessarily the panacea for everybody": Family physician perspectives on virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.Lindsay HeddenSarah SpencerMaria MathewsEmily Gard MarshallJulia LukewichShabnam AsghariPaul GillRita K McCrackenCrystal VaughanEric WongRichard BuoteLeslie MeredithLauren MoritzDana RyanGordon Schacter<h4>Introduction</h4>Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Canadian primary care practices rapidly adapted to provide care virtually. Most family physicians lacked prior training or expertise with virtual care. In the absence of formal guidance, they made individual decisions about in-person versus remote care based on clinical judgement, their longitudinal relationships with patients, and personal risk assessments. Our objective was to explore Canadian family physicians' perspectives on the strengths and limitations of virtual care implementation for their patient populations during the COVID-19 pandemic and implications for the integration of virtual care into broader primary care practice.<h4>Methods</h4>We conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with family physicians working in four Canadian jurisdictions (Vancouver Coastal health region, British Columbia; Southwestern Ontario; the province of Nova Scotia; and Eastern Health region, Newfoundland and Labrador). We analyzed interview data using a structured applied thematic approach.<h4>Results</h4>We interviewed 68 family physicians and identified four distinct themes during our analysis related to experiences with and perspectives on virtual care: (1) changes in access to primary care; (2) quality and efficacy of care provided virtually; (3) patient and provider comfort with virtual modalities; and (4) necessary supports for virtual care moving forward.<h4>Conclusions</h4>The move to virtual care enhanced access to care for select patients and was helpful for family physicians to better manage their panels. However, virtual care also created access challenges for some patients (e.g., people who are underhoused or living in areas without good phone or internet access) and for some types of care (e.g., care that required access to medical devices). Family physicians are optimistic about the ongoing integration of virtual care into broader primary care delivery, but guidance, regulations, and infrastructure investments are needed to ensure equitable access and to maximize quality of care.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0296768&type=printable |
| spellingShingle | Lindsay Hedden Sarah Spencer Maria Mathews Emily Gard Marshall Julia Lukewich Shabnam Asghari Paul Gill Rita K McCracken Crystal Vaughan Eric Wong Richard Buote Leslie Meredith Lauren Moritz Dana Ryan Gordon Schacter "Technology has allowed us to do a lot more but it's not necessarily the panacea for everybody": Family physician perspectives on virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. PLoS ONE |
| title | "Technology has allowed us to do a lot more but it's not necessarily the panacea for everybody": Family physician perspectives on virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. |
| title_full | "Technology has allowed us to do a lot more but it's not necessarily the panacea for everybody": Family physician perspectives on virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. |
| title_fullStr | "Technology has allowed us to do a lot more but it's not necessarily the panacea for everybody": Family physician perspectives on virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. |
| title_full_unstemmed | "Technology has allowed us to do a lot more but it's not necessarily the panacea for everybody": Family physician perspectives on virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. |
| title_short | "Technology has allowed us to do a lot more but it's not necessarily the panacea for everybody": Family physician perspectives on virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. |
| title_sort | technology has allowed us to do a lot more but it s not necessarily the panacea for everybody family physician perspectives on virtual care during the covid 19 pandemic and beyond |
| url | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0296768&type=printable |
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