Virtual Visits in Primary Care: A case study on the patient experience

According to the 2017-2018 Health Care Experience Survey, although ninety-four percent (94%) of Ontarians have a family doctor or nurse practitioner, they are not always choosing to use, or have timely access to their primary care providers as the first access point to health care¹. Forty-one percent (41%) of Ontarians who went to the emergency department, and ninety-three percent (93%) who went to a walk-in clinic received care for a condition that could have been addressed by their primary care clinician1. Virtual care provides an opportunity to shift healthcare access to conveniently meet patient needs^2,3.

In March 2018, the eHealth Centre of Excellence in collaboration with the Ontario Telemedicine Network initiated the deployment of a virtual care solution across Waterloo-Wellington, enabling secure two-way digital communication between primary care clinicians and their patients through asynchronous chat messaging, or synchronous audio or video conferencing through a dedicated platform.

Since the launch of the program in Waterloo Wellington in March 2018 until May 31, 2019, 67 primary care clinicians (gradually throughout the year) registered for the solution, which resulted in:

The ability to have a virtual visit with my doctor reduces the need for a 45-minute drive to see my doctor for health concerns that can be dealt with through a virtual visit. My doctor monitors my progress while transitioning medications, without the need for me to visit their office. The virtual care application is easy to use and such a convenient way to get the care I need.

Anonymous Patient

Waterloo Wellington

As seen below, the availability of virtual visits avoided use of emergency department and walk-in clinic visits, and supported access to care for a proportion of patients that would not have sought care. Patient experience survey findings (n=470) have illustrated that if a virtual visit had not been available:

In addition, a majority of patients indicated that virtual visits saved them time, provided convenient access to care and were easy to use.

When asked about their experience with the virtual visit in comparison to an in-person visit (n=420):

Overall, virtual visits promoted the delivery of patient-centric care, enhancing access to and continuity of care for patients that would have gone elsewhere for their healthcare, or would not have sought care in a timely manner.

¹Devlin, R. et al. (2019). Hallway Health Care: A System Under Strain. 1st Interim Report from the Premier’s Council on Improving Healthcare and Ending Hallway Medicine.

²McGrail, K. M., Ahuja, M. A., and Leaver, C.A. (2017). Virtual Visits and Patient-Centered Care: Results of a Patient Survey and Observational Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 19(5).

³Jamieson, T. et al. (2015). Virtual Care: A Framework for a Patient-Centric System. Women’s College Hospital Institute for Health Systems Solutions and Virtual Care (WIHV).