Virtual care in Canada

December 5, 2024 — Virtual health care 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, ��ϱ�provides key information about the impacts of virtual care on Canada’s health systems and supports the development of standards, analyses and performance measures, with a focus on the following:

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 ��ϱ� Infoway, ��ϱ�helped 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 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

Primary and virtual care access: Emergency department visits for primary care conditions

Learn about CIHI’s new indicator of access to virtual primary care, Visits to the Emergency Department for Conditions That Could Be Managed Virtually in Primary Care.

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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.

Download this report(PDF)

Go even deeper with CIHI’s podcast

The April 2023 episode of the Canadian ��ϱ� Information Podcast features an in-depth conversation about virtual care in Canada.

Visit the ��ϱ�podcast home page

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.

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Additional material