Optimizing Telehealth Use in Canada Competitive Grant Program
The following may apply: medical, dental, nursing, allied health, and/or pharmacy professional schools; healthcare institutions (both large and small); professional associations and medical societies; medical education companies; and other entities with a mission related to healthcare professional education and/or healthcare improvement.
Telemedicine helps ensure that care continues to be provided to those who need it most by triaging low-risk urgent care and follow-up appointments while maintaining continuity of care, especially for chronic disease and behavioral health patients who may require routine check-ins regardless of geographic proximity between the HCP and the patient.
The Virtual Care Task Force (VCTF) was created by the Canadian Medical Association, the College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. VCFT recently issued a report “Virtual Care – Recommendations for Scaling Up Virtual Medical Services” 1 and discussed the importance of enhancing virtual quality of care by improving:
• Informational continuity – how can we ensure that information on prior events is properly used to provide care that is appropriate to the patient's current circumstance?
• Relational continuity – how can we elevate and bridge the ongoing relationship between patients and providers which is the undergirding that connects care over time and bridges discontinuous events?
• Management continuity – how can we ensure that care received from different providers is connected in a coherent and efficient way to provide optimal patient care?
It is our intent to support Quality Improvement initiatives that enhance the virtual quality of care in areas outlined above or access to care with telemedicine.