Virtual care: Enhancing access or harming care?
Lorian HardcastleUbaka OgboguPublished in: Healthcare management forum (2020)
COVID-19 has catalyzed the adoption of virtual medical care in Canada. Virtual care can improve access to healthcare services, particularly for those in remote locations or with health conditions that make seeing a doctor in person difficult or unsafe. However, virtual walk-in clinic models that do not connect patients with their own doctors can lead to fragmented, lower quality care. Although virtual walk-in clinics can be helpful for those who temporarily lack access to a family doctor, they should not be relied on as a long-term substitute to an established relationship with a primary care provider. Virtual care also raises significant privacy issues that policy-makers must address prior to implementing these models. Patients should be cautious of the artificial intelligence recommendations generated by some virtual care applications, which have been linked to quality of care concerns.
Keyphrases
- healthcare
- primary care
- quality improvement
- palliative care
- artificial intelligence
- affordable care act
- pain management
- mental health
- sars cov
- end stage renal disease
- coronavirus disease
- health information
- big data
- newly diagnosed
- risk assessment
- deep learning
- ejection fraction
- peritoneal dialysis
- prognostic factors
- room temperature