“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
Introduction 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 ba...
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crplos:10.1371/journal.pone.0296768 2024-05-19T07:44:20+00:00 “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 Hedden, Lindsay Spencer, Sarah Mathews, Maria Gard Marshall, Emily Lukewich, Julia Asghari, Shabnam Gill, Paul McCracken, Rita K. Vaughan, Crystal Wong, Eric Buote, Richard Meredith, Leslie Moritz, Lauren Ryan, Dana Schacter, Gordon Alamgir, A. K. M. Canadian Institutes of Health Research Health Research BC 2024 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0296768 https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0296768 en eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ PLOS ONE volume 19, issue 2, page e0296768 ISSN 1932-6203 journal-article 2024 crplos https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0296768 2024-05-01T06:57:48Z Introduction 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. Methods 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. Results 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. Conclusions 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 ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Newfoundland PLOS PLOS ONE 19 2 e0296768 |
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English |
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Introduction 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. Methods 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. Results 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. Conclusions 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 ... |
author2 |
Alamgir, A. K. M. Canadian Institutes of Health Research Health Research BC |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Hedden, Lindsay Spencer, Sarah Mathews, Maria Gard Marshall, Emily Lukewich, Julia Asghari, Shabnam Gill, Paul McCracken, Rita K. Vaughan, Crystal Wong, Eric Buote, Richard Meredith, Leslie Moritz, Lauren Ryan, Dana Schacter, Gordon |
spellingShingle |
Hedden, Lindsay Spencer, Sarah Mathews, Maria Gard Marshall, Emily Lukewich, Julia Asghari, Shabnam Gill, Paul McCracken, Rita K. Vaughan, Crystal Wong, Eric Buote, Richard Meredith, Leslie Moritz, Lauren Ryan, Dana Schacter, Gordon “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 |
author_facet |
Hedden, Lindsay Spencer, Sarah Mathews, Maria Gard Marshall, Emily Lukewich, Julia Asghari, Shabnam Gill, Paul McCracken, Rita K. Vaughan, Crystal Wong, Eric Buote, Richard Meredith, Leslie Moritz, Lauren Ryan, Dana Schacter, Gordon |
author_sort |
Hedden, Lindsay |
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_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_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_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 |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0296768 https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0296768 |
genre |
Newfoundland |
genre_facet |
Newfoundland |
op_source |
PLOS ONE volume 19, issue 2, page e0296768 ISSN 1932-6203 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0296768 |
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PLOS ONE |
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19 |
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