Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Sep;36(5):285-292.
doi: 10.1177/08404704231183177. Epub 2023 Jun 20.

Real-time virtual supports improving health equity and access in British Columbia

Helen Novak Lauscher  1 , Kurtis Stewart  1 , Ray Markham  2 , John Pawlovich  2 , John Mah  3 , Megan Hunt  4 , Kim Williams  2 , Jim Christenson  1 , Scott Graham  3 , Katrina Bepple  2 , Erika Pritchard  2 , Jon Rabeneck  5 , Michelle Yang  1 , Kendall Ho  1
Affiliations

Real-time virtual supports improving health equity and access in British Columbia

Helen Novak Lauscher et al. Healthc Manage Forum. 2023 Sep.

Abstract

In British Columbia (BC) and across the territories of over 200 First Nations and 39 Métis Nation Chartered communities, the COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed a group of partner organizations to rapidly establish seven virtual care pathways under the Real-Time Virtual Support (RTVS) network. They aimed to address inequitable access and multiple barriers to healthcare faced by rural, remote, and Indigenous communities, and provide pan-provincial services. Mixed-method evaluation assessed implementation, patient and provider experience, quality improvement, cultural safety, and sustainability. Pathways supported 38,905 patient encounters and offered 29,544 hours of peer-to-peer support from April 2020 to March 2021. Mean monthly encounter growth was 178.0% (standard deviation = 252.1%). Ninety percent of patients were satisfied with the care experience; 94% of providers enjoyed delivering virtual care. Consistent growth suggests that the virtual pathways met the needs of providers and patients in rural, remote, and Indigenous communities, and supported virtual access to care in BC.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

References

    1. UBC Rural Continuing Professional Development (RCPD) Program . Rural Emergency Medicine Needs Assessment British Columbia, Canada [Internet]. UBC Continuing Professional Development (UBC CPD). 2015. Available from: https://ubccpd.ca/sites/ubccpd.ca/files/2015-Report-Rural-EM-Needs-Asses...
    1. Greenwood M, de Leeuw S, Lindsay N. Challenges in health equity for Indigenous peoples in Canada. The Lancet. 2018;391(10131):1645-1648. - PubMed
    1. Government of British Columbia . Rural Practice Subsidiary Agreement [Internet]. 2022. Available from: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/practitioner-professional-reso...
    1. Rural Coordination Centre of British Columbia . RSA Communities [Internet]. Rural Coordination Centre of British Columbia. 2021. Available from: https://rccbc.ca/rccbc/about-the-jsc/rsa-communities/
    1. Turpel-Lafond M. In Plain Sight: Addressing Indigenous-specific Racism and Discrimination in B.C. Health Care [Internet], 2020. Available from: https://engage.gov.bc.ca/app/uploads/sites/613/2020/11/In-Plain-Sight-Fu...