Open AccessEquitable Virtual Care in Canada: Addressing The Digital Divide
Author(s) -
Mitchell Crozier
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
university of ottawa journal of medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2292-6518
pISSN - 2292-650X
DOI - 10.18192/uojm.v11is1.5937
Subject(s) - health care , pandemic , telehealth , status quo , telemedicine , digitization , digital health , covid-19 , phone , service (business) , internet privacy , business , public relations , medicine , political science , computer science , telecommunications , disease , marketing , linguistics , philosophy , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , law
Online healthcare services are rapidly transforming the landscape of healthcare in Canada. Although the digitization of healthcare delivery has been occurring gradually over the past two decades, the COVID-19 pandemic has catalyzed a “digital boom” in healthcare [1–4]. Now more than ever, healthcare practitioners and patients alike have transitioned from in-person appointments to virtual care via online platforms [3-5]. Virtual care, once an optional service, is becoming an essential one. A recent survey conducted by the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) aiming to assess Canadians’ opinions about virtual care, reported that 19% of Canadians accessed routine healthcare via phone, telehealth, virtual service, or video conference with their physician(s) prior to the COVID-19 pandemic compared to 53% since the beginning of the pandemic [5]. Due to necessity, virtual care evidently went from being uncommon to the status quo during the COVID-19 pandemic.