Virtual primary care: a multi-provincial mixed methods study of access, experiences, and outcomes

Timely access to high-quality primary care is an ongoing problem across most Canadian provinces. Virtual care - consulting with a health care professional remotely using communication or information technology such as telephone, videoconference, or text messaging - has the potential to increase access, improve quality, and reduce costs; however, it has not been widely available in Canada and has not been widely studied. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a rapid move away from in-office visits and towards virtual care, raising significant questions about the impact of virtual care on patients, health care professionals, and the health system more broadly. This project will use information from interviews with health professionals (physicians, nurse practitioners and nurses) and patients; routinely collected, population-based health service delivery data; and provincial policy documents to study access to, experiences with, and outcomes from virtual care provided in the primary care context across four Canadian provinces. Building on existing surveys and interviews being conducted in Ontario and Nova Scotia, the interviews with patients and health professionals will explore experiences with providing and receiving care virtually. The analysis of routinely collected health service data will identify what groups of patients are receiving care virtually, and for what health concerns. We will use these same data to look at downstream health outcomes and to measure the overall impact of virtual care on the volume of services delivered and on health system costs. Ultimately, this project will strengthen our understanding about the impact of the move toward virtual care on patients, providers, and the health care system, supporting the development of coordinating provincial policies. This will help to ensure that patients have access to the primary services they need, virtually or in person, at the right time.