April 13, 2023 — Virtual health care has rapidly expanded in most sectors of care across Canada during the pandemic. Initially implemented to reduce the spread of COVID-19 by maintaining physical distancing, it may offer benefits beyond the pandemic, including improving Canadians’ access to care and reducing costs for health systems and patients.
Policy-makers, health care providers and patients require more data and information about virtual care and its impacts on health system spending and resources, and on patient outcomes to inform future investments and approaches to delivering health care services virtually. Fundamental information is also needed to better understand whether the care provided virtually is provided equitably. In response, we’re building on our existing data to expand what we know about virtual care in Canada.
Expanding our knowledge of virtual care
Virtual care has been defined as “any interaction between patients and/or members of their circle of care, occurring remotely, using any forms of communication or information technologies, with the aim of facilitating or maximizing the quality and effectiveness of patient care.”Reference1
To expand what we know, CIHI will provide key information about the impacts of virtual care on Canada’s health systems and will support the development of standards, analyses and performance measures, with a focus on the following:
- New and updated data standards to ensure that virtual care can be better captured and identified in CIHI’s data holdings. This includes updates to the pan-Canadian primary health care standards. Working with Canada Health Infoway, CIHI will also help facilitate the seamless exchange of health information among health system stakeholders through the development of data content and interoperability standards in and across acute care, ambulatory care and primary health care.
- Data analyses leveraging CIHI’s existing data holdings such as physician billing data, health workforce data, and hospital and survey data.
- Performance measurement in priority areas, including patient experience, emergency department use and access to primary care. This includes recommendations for pan-Canadian indicators that would be able to track progress over time.
Featured material
The Expansion of Virtual Care in Canada: New Data and Information
This report presents provincial/territorial case studies and 2022 Commonwealth Fund survey data that show how Canada responded to the rise in demand for virtual care.
Go even deeper with CIHI’s podcast
The April 2023 episode of the Canadian Health Information Podcast features an in-depth conversation about virtual care in Canada.
Virtual care: Impact of COVID-19 on physician mental health services
Explore the provision of virtual mental health services by physicians in Canada during the first year of the pandemic.
Additional material
Virtual Care in Canada: Strengthening Data and Information
This report provides a snapshot of available virtual care data in Canada, as well as recommendations for future pan-Canadian measurement of virtual care.
Virtual care: Impact of COVID-19 on physician practice patterns
Explore the impact of COVID-19 on trends in physicians’ uptake of virtual care in selected provinces.
Virtual care: Impact of COVID-19 on patients receiving physician services
Explore the impact of COVID-19 on trends in patients accessing virtual physician care in selected provinces.
2021 Commonwealth Fund survey
Learn how the views and experiences of seniors in Canada compare with those in Commonwealth Fund peer countries when it comes to interactions with health care providers, their health care system and the use of virtual care appointments.
Partnerships
The Canadian Network for Digital Health Evaluation (CNDHE)Reference2 is an initiative sponsored by Health Canada to build capacity for digital health evaluation across Canada. The CNDHE is strengthening this capacity through pan-Canadian evaluations, a Digital Health Evaluation Framework and a knowledge translation network that connects researchers and policy-makers in digital health across Canada. CIHI and the partner organizations at the CNDHE are combining our expertise to support a comprehensive approach to digital health evaluations that includes measurement and analyses in virtual care and virtual care technologies. Our partnerships related to virtual care help avoid duplication of effort and cost, while ensuring that the policies and decisions that influence health are based on accurate, comparable and unbiased information. These are our partners:
- Canada Health Infoway
- Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health
- Centre for Digital Health Evaluation
- The Centre for Wise Practices in Indigenous Health at Women’s College Hospital
We’ve also consulted with Healthcare Excellence Canada (HEC)Reference3 to support their work on the Virtual Care Together design collaborativeReference4 and are collaborating with them on their Partnering on Appropriate Virtual Care initiative.Reference5 CIHI’s engagement with HEC supports alignment on proposed measures and evaluations and ensures information-sharing among leading pan-Canadian health care organizations committed to better data and improved health outcomes for Canadians.
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References
- 1.
- Back to Reference 1 in text
- Women’s College Hospital Institute for Health System Solutions and Virtual Care. Virtual Care: A Framework for a Patient-Centric System. 2015.
- 2.
- Back to Reference 2 in text
- Centre for Digital Health Evaluation, Women’s College Hospital Institute for Health System Solutions and Virtual Care. Canadian Network for Digital Health Evaluation (CNDHE). Accessed February 2023.
- 3.
- Back to Reference 3 in text
- Healthcare Excellence Canada. Healthcare Excellence Canada. Accessed March 2022.
- 4.
- Back to Reference 4 in text
- Healthcare Excellence Canada. Virtual Care Together. Accessed March 2022.
- 5.
- Back to Reference 5 in text
- Healthcare Excellence Canada. Partnering on Appropriate Virtual Care. Accessed February 2023.