Will Virtual Care Stand the Test of Time;One Site's Perspective on the Continuity of Virtual Care Post-Pandemic

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Since the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the healthcare field has undergone innumerable changes. Both patients and health care providers (HCP) alike had to adapt to new precautionary measures, while simultaneously addressing ongoing health concerns. Hence, a shift was seen in which many conventional in-person patient appointments were changed into virtual appointments. The aim of this is to analyze patient appointments from March 2019 to February 2022 by the mode in which it was provided. Methods: The total number of visits occurring at Princess Margaret Cancer Center ambulatory thoracic oncology clinic was collected from March 2019 to February 2022. The compiled results were organized by mode of encounter and converted to graph format. The “In-Person” category accounts for traditional patient consults that had been conducted by having patients physically attend the clinic. This includes appointments for new patients and follow-up patient consults for medical, radiation, and surgical oncology. All patient consults that were conducted remotely, where the patient was not physically present within the clinic, are grouped into the “Virtual” category. These appointments were conducted through various media platforms;phone calls, Microsoft Teams, Ontario Telemedicine Network, and telehealth meetings. Results: There is an initial peak in virtual appointments seen at the start of the pandemic, occurring from April 2020 to May 2020. During this time, virtual appointments accounted for more than 65% of appointments. After this, the use of virtual appointments has continued to persist (with virtual appointments accounting for 36% to 50% of consults during the period from June 2020 to February 2022). This occurs despite external changes related to COVID-19, including the introduction of the COVID-19 vaccine, and the fluctuating number of COVID-19 cases. [Formula presented] Conclusions: Although this does not definitively conclude that virtual care will persist after the pandemic has concluded, there is strong evidence to suggest that health care may no longer be limited to in-person settings. With the integration of virtual care, the disadvantages of remote patient care must be considered, primarily the inability to complete a physical assessment. Given these disadvantages, HCP must recognize these limitations and methodically select appropriate situations for utilizing virtual care. There is a growing need to further develop innovative ways to support HCP in providing quality patient care in a virtual platform through research, development, and education. Keywords COVID-19, Virtual Care