Delays, Delays, Delays” – Family Physicians’ Experiences Managing Patients and Accessing Specialists During COVID-19
CONTEXT: Historically, Canadians experience long wait times for specialist referrals. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many specialist services were suspended to reduce virus transmission and redeploy physicians. Little has been reported on family physicians’ (FPs’) perspectives and experiences accessi...
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:10549568 2023-11-05T03:43:34+01:00 Delays, Delays, Delays” – Family Physicians’ Experiences Managing Patients and Accessing Specialists During COVID-19 Marshall, Emily Gard Buote, Richard Moritz, Lauren Lukewich, Julia Mathews, Maria Hedden, Lindsay 2023 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10549568/ https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.21.s1.3640 en eng American Academy of Family Physicians http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10549568/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1370/afm.21.s1.3640 © 2023 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc. Ann Fam Med Covid-19 Text 2023 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.21.s1.3640 2023-10-08T01:10:50Z CONTEXT: Historically, Canadians experience long wait times for specialist referrals. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many specialist services were suspended to reduce virus transmission and redeploy physicians. Little has been reported on family physicians’ (FPs’) perspectives and experiences accessing specialists during the pandemic and implications for practice. OBJECTIVE: To understand FPs’ experiences accessing specialists during the COVID-19 pandemic. STUDY DESIGN AND ANALYSIS: A qualitative, multiple case study was conducted. Relevant data (i.e., pertaining to specialists) were thematically analyzed. SETTING: Four Canadian jurisdictions (Vancouver Coastal Health region, British Columbia; Southwestern Ontario; the province of Nova Scotia; and Eastern Health region of Newfoundland and Labrador). POPULATION STUDIED: FPs who were practicing in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic. INSTRUMENT: Semi-structured exploratory qualitative interviews. OUTCOME MEASURES: Perspectives from FPs on accessing specialists during the COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS: Thirty-nine of 68 FP interviewees described experiences accessing specialists during the pandemic. Findings were organized according to the CanMEDS competency framework. This framework describes competencies held by FPs and, by organizing identified themes by this framework, we illustrate how FPs applied these competencies during the pandemic. Themes included: 1) collaborator: barriers and enabler to accessing specialists, opportunities for greater collaboration, and conflict between specialists and FPs; 2) medical expert: working beyond typical scope to manage patients in lieu of specialist appointments; 3) health advocate: identifying patient needs and advocating for them to be seen by specialists; 4) communicator: explaining changes to patients and managing patient frustration; 5) scholar: integrating best practices and contributing to research; 6) professional: applying best practices and identifying issues of FP wellness; 7) leader: suggesting improvements to ... Text Newfoundland PubMed Central (PMC) COVID-19 3640 |
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Covid-19 Marshall, Emily Gard Buote, Richard Moritz, Lauren Lukewich, Julia Mathews, Maria Hedden, Lindsay Delays, Delays, Delays” – Family Physicians’ Experiences Managing Patients and Accessing Specialists During COVID-19 |
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CONTEXT: Historically, Canadians experience long wait times for specialist referrals. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many specialist services were suspended to reduce virus transmission and redeploy physicians. Little has been reported on family physicians’ (FPs’) perspectives and experiences accessing specialists during the pandemic and implications for practice. OBJECTIVE: To understand FPs’ experiences accessing specialists during the COVID-19 pandemic. STUDY DESIGN AND ANALYSIS: A qualitative, multiple case study was conducted. Relevant data (i.e., pertaining to specialists) were thematically analyzed. SETTING: Four Canadian jurisdictions (Vancouver Coastal Health region, British Columbia; Southwestern Ontario; the province of Nova Scotia; and Eastern Health region of Newfoundland and Labrador). POPULATION STUDIED: FPs who were practicing in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic. INSTRUMENT: Semi-structured exploratory qualitative interviews. OUTCOME MEASURES: Perspectives from FPs on accessing specialists during the COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS: Thirty-nine of 68 FP interviewees described experiences accessing specialists during the pandemic. Findings were organized according to the CanMEDS competency framework. This framework describes competencies held by FPs and, by organizing identified themes by this framework, we illustrate how FPs applied these competencies during the pandemic. Themes included: 1) collaborator: barriers and enabler to accessing specialists, opportunities for greater collaboration, and conflict between specialists and FPs; 2) medical expert: working beyond typical scope to manage patients in lieu of specialist appointments; 3) health advocate: identifying patient needs and advocating for them to be seen by specialists; 4) communicator: explaining changes to patients and managing patient frustration; 5) scholar: integrating best practices and contributing to research; 6) professional: applying best practices and identifying issues of FP wellness; 7) leader: suggesting improvements to ... |
format |
Text |
author |
Marshall, Emily Gard Buote, Richard Moritz, Lauren Lukewich, Julia Mathews, Maria Hedden, Lindsay |
author_facet |
Marshall, Emily Gard Buote, Richard Moritz, Lauren Lukewich, Julia Mathews, Maria Hedden, Lindsay |
author_sort |
Marshall, Emily Gard |
title |
Delays, Delays, Delays” – Family Physicians’ Experiences Managing Patients and Accessing Specialists During COVID-19 |
title_short |
Delays, Delays, Delays” – Family Physicians’ Experiences Managing Patients and Accessing Specialists During COVID-19 |
title_full |
Delays, Delays, Delays” – Family Physicians’ Experiences Managing Patients and Accessing Specialists During COVID-19 |
title_fullStr |
Delays, Delays, Delays” – Family Physicians’ Experiences Managing Patients and Accessing Specialists During COVID-19 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Delays, Delays, Delays” – Family Physicians’ Experiences Managing Patients and Accessing Specialists During COVID-19 |
title_sort |
delays, delays, delays” – family physicians’ experiences managing patients and accessing specialists during covid-19 |
publisher |
American Academy of Family Physicians |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10549568/ https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.21.s1.3640 |
genre |
Newfoundland |
genre_facet |
Newfoundland |
op_source |
Ann Fam Med |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10549568/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1370/afm.21.s1.3640 |
op_rights |
© 2023 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.21.s1.3640 |
container_title |
COVID-19 |
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3640 |
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