Group seeks virtual care options post-pandemic

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This article was published 21/08/2021 (1612 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Part of navigating health care in the province during the pandemic has been for the government to support virtual health care.

Physician phone calls, secure emails and texts, Facetime — it all falls under the virtual support Manitobans have been receiving since the pandemic started.

Since March 2020, there have been more than 3.1 million virtual visits with physicians in Manitoba, according to a release from Doctors Manitoba.

The organization represents more than 4,000 physicians and medical learners across the province.

They’re calling on the province to extend virtual care past the pandemic, based on the success of what is currently in place.

“With more than a year of experience and over three million virtual visits, doctors and patients are finding that phone and video visits can often be a safe and effective option for patient care,” said Dr. Kristjan Thompson, the organization’s president.

Thompson isn’t suggesting virtual care replace actual hands-on medical care, just that it is another “tool in our tool box,” he told The Sun in a telephone interview.

In a report released Thursday by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), a study last week from Canada Health Infoway and a Probe Research public survey commissioned by Doctors Manitoba earlier in the year, some of the key findings in the research included about 86 per cent of physicians in Manitoba offered virtual visits during the pandemic (CIHI) while there was strong satisfaction with virtual care, including 90 per cent of Manitobans (Probe) and 79 per cent of Manitoban doctors (Infoway).

However, there was overwhelming support to see virtual care continue as an option after the pandemic, including 99 per cent of Manitoban physicians (Infoway) and 90 per cent of patients. (Probe).

Thompson said the group wants virtual care to extend past the pandemic due to its effectiveness. As well, additional types of visits were approved for virtual care during the pandemic as the second wave approached, following advocacy from Doctors Manitoba.

Virtual care isn’t something new in the province, as rural and northern communities have been using the type of service for quite some time, Thompson said. It is one of the largest geographic areas in the country where virtual care is actually facilitated.

Thompson said while the capability for virtual care has always been there, physicians weren’t always able to bill the provincial government for virtual visits as the billing framework wasn’t available on a larger scale.

However, with the pandemic, the need for virtual visits with patients became clear.

Through Doctors Manitoba, physicians were able to bill the provincial government on a scale much larger than had previously been explored.

“For many health concerns, nothing will ever replace an in-person visit with your doctor,” Thompson said. “For some issues, virtual care has proven itself to be an appropriate option, improving access, quality and efficiency in medicine.”

Thompson is not concerned that virtual care could replace an actual hands-on examination by a physician, saying it took him almost two years to locate a family doctor in the province.

With former health minister Heather Stefanson indicating she was receptive to seeing virtual care continue, Thompson said he is waiting to have that conversation with newly appointed Health and Seniors Care Minister Audrey Gordon.

A provincial government spokesperson said in an email that Manitoba entered into a bilateral agreement with the federal government, where Manitoba is receiving more than $7 million to expand its virtual health services.

“Our government has also developed an action plan that outlines how it is investing the funding under the bilateral agreement to expand virtual health services for Manitoba residents.”

The spokesperson said an action plan will accelerate virtual health-care services and improve access for Manitobans.

“Expanding these services will improve our health-care system and provide care to Manitobans where they need it most. This type of care has been essential during the COVID-19 pandemic and will continue to be in our recovery and in future.”

» kkielley@brandonsun.com