Examining experiences and system impacts of publicly funded episodic virtual care

In Canada, people face challenges getting regular primary healthcare and accessing care when they need it. Some virtual platforms offer visits similar to going to a "walk-in" clinic, where you can get immediate help, but there is no coordination or ongoing care like a regular primary care clinic would provide. We call this episodic virtual care (EVC). Nova Scotia and New Brunswick offer publicly-funded EVC to help more people access healthcare services. The main goal of this research is to understand how EVC works in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and what impact it has had. We want to know how patients feel about using EVC, and how this may differ depending on the type of care needed, age, gender, where people live (urban or rural areas), immigration, and language preference. We also want to learn about healthcare clinicians’ experiences, including how this may differ depending on the type of care needed, the clinician's credentials (being a nurse practitioner or family physician), gender, location (whether they live within or outside the province), and years of experience. Finally, we want to understand how EVC is affecting the overall healthcare system. We will analyze data to see how EVC is impacting total capacity to deliver primary care, and also the number of visits to community-based primary care centres, emergency department visits, and referrals to other health services like prescriptions, imaging, and other specialist physicians. To gather this information, we will use a combination of methods. We will interview patients and clinicians, and use administrative data, which is information collected as part of regular healthcare operations, to understand system impacts. The findings of this study will be important for all provinces in Canada as they strive to improve access to primary healthcare services, while also making sure care is connected and coordinated.