Our province has reached an impressive milestone: more than one million virtual health visits.

 

In a recent survey conducted by Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) and its partners, patients gave virtual visits high praise. Patients felt that virtual visits by video made it easier and faster to access care, allowed the inclusion of family members, and saved them travel time and travel costs.

 

“The transformation in health care delivery in B.C. is remarkable. Virtual visits have become essential for delivering care to patients to keep them safe and healthy at home during COVID-19,” said Adrian Dix, Minister of Health. “Beyond the pandemic, virtual visits will continue to be available to B.C. citizens as virtual health evolves in innovative and new ways.”

 

Based on a recent analysis, it is estimated that the one million virtual visits by video have saved patients in B.C. over 800,000 hours of travel time, over 22,000,000 kilometres travelled, and reduced the carbon footprint of our health care system by an estimated 8,000 tons.

 

For health care providers, the experience of offering virtual visits by video to patients was also positive. Over 90 per cent of surveyed health care providers felt video visits were an effective way to deliver care during a pandemic, that they could effectively communicate with patients, and that they would continue to use video visits in the future.

 

“A key to having these virtual visits available to patients and families is the collaboration of leaders across the B.C. health sector who, in the early days of the pandemic, embarked on a provincially coordinated response,’ said David Byres, interim president and CEO of PHSA. “Their partnership inspired innovative and effective ways to keep providing access to high quality care.”

 

New measures were put in place to enable virtual primary care in B.C. communities, which included issuing Zoom licences to physicians so they could deliver care virtually, and adjusting telehealth fee codes to allow physicians to bill Medical Services Plan for care services that would otherwise have been delivered in-person.

 

For the Palmers and the Juttens, two B.C. families living outside the Lower Mainland, virtual health has been a game changer for their children’s health care needs.

 

“I felt like we lived at BC Children’s prior to the pandemic, honestly. [Video visits] have reduced our daughter’s stress one hundred per cent because she doesn’t have to travel,” said Christina Palmer, mother of Charlotte, a BC Children’s Hospital patient. “I’m very thankful that we have the opportunity to do the virtual appointments and we would continue virtual care in a heartbeat. We get the same level of care for Charlotte’s treatment that we would in person but we save a 14-hour round trip drive.”

 

Both families have children who are under the age of 10 and live with rare conditions that suppress their immune systems. The stress of traveling from their communities to BC Children’s Hospital for checkups exacerbated their symptoms. Being able to have checkups virtually from home has significantly reduced the children’s stress, and saved the families travel time and costs.

 

“The stress that comes with the travel to the hospital – all of Nolin’s health issues that happen during travel, the things we have to deal with when we get there – I don’t think we realized how stressful the travel was until we didn’t have to do it,” said Darlene Schopman, mother of Nolin, a BC Children’s Hospital patient. “The change to using video visits was a huge sense of relief. It also means Nolin’s Dad and I can join and be there together for many of the appointments.”

 

The milestone reflects data gathered from all B.C. health authorities (First Nations Health, Vancouver Coastal Health, Fraser Health, Northern Health, Island Health, Providence Health Care and Interior Health), Doctors of BC and the Rural Coordination Centre of BC.

 

Throughout the pandemic, PHSA virtual and digital health teams have collaborated with the B.C. Ministry of Health, regional health authorities, Doctors of BC, Rural Coordination Centre of BC, HealthLink BC, the BC Emergency Medicine Network and Primary Care Networks to ensure citizens of B.C. have access to virtual health to keep them safe and healthy.

 

“Any type of travel with a sick child can be traumatic for the whole family. Virtual health saves that travel time, its cost, the impact it makes on the environment, and the toll it takes on a sick child as well as their support network. BC Children’s hit the ground running to provide virtual care during the pandemic and we will continue to make great strides – in virtual and in-person care – to best support our patients and their families into the future.”

 

“In response to the urgency of COVID-19, the Office of Virtual Health joined forces with our provincial partners in an unprecedented collaboration. The result was the rapid deployment of virtual health solutions and resources -- what would normally take years to accomplish was done in weeks. The B.C. health sector acted as one team with one goal which was to help our providers continue to deliver care to patients across B.C. and keep them safe. The one millionth virtual health visit in B.C. is truly an important milestone of how far we’ve come as a province.”

 

“The increased use of virtual visits this past year has allowed doctors to still provide timely and accessible care to patients in spite of the social restrictions in place. Virtual visits have proven to be more efficient than in-person visits in many instances – there’s no going back. But important considerations are required in navigating the road ahead to ensure that patients still receive the care they need, when they need it.” 

 

“There have been few silver linings to this pandemic, but one that has emerged is the expedited rollout of Real-Time Virtual Support pathways for health care providers and patients in rural, remote, and Indigenous communities in B.C. The collaborative vision and efforts of numerous health care partners has resulted in the creation of a safety net that aims to ensure every British Columbian, no matter where they live in our province, can access timely, high-quality, compassionate health care closer to home.”

 

Select results of the patient virtual health survey are available in the patient survey infographic (PDF).

 

For access to full survey results, please contact the Office of Virtual Health at officeofvirtualhealth@phsa.ca.

 

Read the full article with the Palmers’ and Juttens’ stories.

 

The Provincial Health Services Authority plans, manages and evaluates selected specialty health care services across BC, working with the five regional health authorities, First Nations Health Authority and the Ministry of Health to deliver province-wide solutions that improve the health of British Columbians. For more information, visit www.phsa.ca or follow us @PHSAofBC.

 

The Office of Virtual Health is a service of the Provincial Health Services Authority. It leads and provides strategic direction and innovation for the overall virtual health initiative across PHSA. It works collaboratively with clinical, operational and corporate partners, and leads organization-wide planning, and facilitates transformation, including process redesign, change management, project management, education and reporting. For more information, visit the Office of Virtual Health web page.

 

BC Children’s Hospital, a program of the Provincial Health Services Authority, provides expert care for the province’s most seriously ill or injured youth, young adults, and children, including newborns. Child and Youth Mental Health provides a diverse range of specialized and one-of-a-kind tertiary mental health and substance use services for children, adolescents and young adults across the province. For more information, visit bcchildrens.ca or follow us on Twitter @BCChildrensHosp.

 

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