Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Virtual Care: A Major Shift for Physicians and Patients

Abstract

To reduce the spread of COVID-19 in Canada, patients receiving physician services experienced a significant shift to virtual appointments by telephone, video conference and online messaging as many physician visits moved from in-person to virtual delivery. The Canadian Institute for Health Information’s analysis of the physician billing data in five provinces (Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia) shows that during the first year of the pandemic in 2020, up to twice as many physicians provided care virtually compared to 2019. At the same time, the rate at which patients received virtual services quadrupled. Furthermore, data from the 2021 Commonwealth Fund (CMWF) survey of older adults show that almost twice as many Canadian seniors (71%) had a virtual appointment with a doctor or healthcare provider compared to seniors in other CMWF countries (39%). Going forward, virtual care remains a significant mode of delivery and has important implications for the future of patient care and the relationships between patients and providers.