"It saved me from the emergency department": A qualitative study of patient experience of virtual urgent care in Ontario.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ontario Ministry of Health introduced a pilot program of 14 virtual urgent care (VUC) initiatives across the province to encourage physical distancing and provision of care by telephone and video-enabled visits. The implementation of the VUC pilot is currently being evaluated by an external academic team. The objective of this study was to understand patient experiences with VUC to determine barriers and facilitators to optimal virtual care as it rapidly expands during the current pandemic and beyond.

Method

The qualitative component of the evaluation used one-on-one telephone interviews with patients, families, providers, and program administrators as the main method of data collection. Patient and family participants w

SUBMITTER: Dainty KN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10516408 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature