A parent and child sitting in their kitchen meet with a primary care provider using a laptop.

Partnering on Appropriate Virtual Care

Virtual care is growing rapidly across the country as more primary care providers use technology to deliver healthcare. That’s why Healthcare Excellence Canada has launched an initiative to help care providers and patients work together to ensure virtual care is provided in an appropriate, safe and equitable way.

Program overview :

  • Partnering on Appropriate Virtual Care

Collaborative activities

The Partnering on Appropriate Virtual Care collaborative supports primary care practices, organizations and multidisciplinary teams from across Canada to work in partnership with the patients, families, caregivers and communities they support to determine when and how virtual care should be used in their unique healthcare settings.

Through this program, participants are:

  • Developing a functional framework for evaluating when and how virtual care can be used appropriately in their unique healthcare setting.
  • Building capacity to partner with patients and communities to determine when to use virtual care, based on patient needs and capabilities, their care requirements – including those in rural, remote or northern locations – and clinician capacity.
  • Helping ensure appropriate access to virtual care for diverse populations, including rural and remote, First Nations, Inuit and Métis, and other underserved populations.

This program runs between January 2023 and January 2024.

Blog

Why appropriateness matters in virtual care

As more healthcare is delivered virtually, there’s a rising need to ensure it’s done appropriately and safely.

Read more

Blog

Why appropriateness matters in virtual care

As more healthcare is delivered virtually, there’s a rising need to ensure it’s done appropriately and safely.

Read more

What teams receive

Teams participating in Partnering on Appropriate Virtual Care receive:

  • Up to $20,000 in seed funding to develop a framework for their care setting
  • Access to current evidence, tools and best practices, including the Clinician Change Virtual Care Toolkit, which provides guidance to support shared decision-making around the appropriate use of virtual care
  • Learn with and from a pan-Canadian network of primary care providers
  • Interactive webinars that delve into relevant topics around practice change and quality and safety improvement
  • Unique opportunities to connect, learn and share with others delivering virtual care across Canada
  • Direct support from subject matter experts and coaches
  • Measurement and reporting support to help evaluate the appropriateness and safety of virtual care, based on the needs, preferences and capabilities of both patients and care providers

Who’s participating

Through this initiative, HEC is supporting 41 teams across 135 sites and nine provinces. Learn more about who’s participating and where they’re located.

Meet the teams

This initiative builds on the Virtual Care Together design collaborative, delivered in partnership by HEC and Canada Health Infoway.

Featured content

Virtual care toolkit for clinicians 

The Clinician Change Virtual Care Toolkit provides tools and resources that support new and experienced clinicians or support staff to deliver safe, high-quality virtual care.

Learn more

Featured content

Virtual care toolkit for clinicians 

The Clinician Change Virtual Care Toolkit provides tools and resources that support new and experienced clinicians or support staff to deliver safe, high-quality virtual care.

Learn more