Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada’s publicly-funded healthcare care system did not usually pay doctors for other than in-person consultations with patients. With a view to changing that, three associations representing Canada’s doctors had set up a task force to study virtual care. The work was prescient as, one month later, the global pandemic was declared and virtual care was hurriedly adopted across Canada in March 2020.
The western province of Alberta announced on June 8, 2020 that it would permanently allow its doctors to bill for virtual visits with patients. Now, the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) says it is time for the entire country to allow virtual care to become permanent.
The internet is not always easily accessed in Canada’s northern and remote communities. (iStock)
Virtual health care requires affordable and reliable internet access
The CMA has several recommendations to help make this happen. Among them: fees paid to doctors for virtual consultations should become permanent, and all Canadians should have affordable and reliable access to internet connectivity in order to be able to consult doctors virtually. Canada is a large country and not all regions have good internet access, particularly northern and remote communities. The CMA is also calling for Canada-wide standards to ensure privacy for patients and a framework to regulate the safety and quality of virtual care services.
“The pandemic truly was the catalyst for accelerating the uptake and expansion of virtual care,” says Dr. Ann Collins, president of the CMA. “Out of necessity, virtual care was adopted to preserve some form of access to care. Going forward, we need to make sure that virtual care is effectively integrated and delivered equitably. Our pivot to virtual care was swift and at times reliant on temporary measures that must now be made permanent and stable.”
Half of Canadians used virtual consultations
In June 2020, the CMA released a national survey which showed that half of Canadians used virtual visits with their doctors and were highly satisfied. A September 2020 survey found similar results.
In 2020, the CMA also released a guide for doctors and a guide for patients to support the implementation of virtual care. In, January 2021, the CMA Foundation announced a commitment of $2.5 million to advance knowledge, evidence and innovation in virtual care research in collaboration with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, which is the Canadian government’s major agency responsible for funding health and medical research.
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