{"id":24483,"date":"2026-09-09T16:49:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T20:49:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ices.on.ca\/?post_type=journal_article&#038;p=24483"},"modified":"2026-09-09T16:49:24","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T20:49:24","slug":"virtual-care-expansion-and-physician-follow-up-among-youth-with-first-mental-health-contact-through-a-hospital","status":"publish","type":"journal_article","link":"https:\/\/www.ices.on.ca\/fr\/publications\/journal-articles\/virtual-care-expansion-and-physician-follow-up-among-youth-with-first-mental-health-contact-through-a-hospital\/","title":{"rendered":"Virtual care expansion and physician follow-up among youth with first mental health contact through a hospital: population-based repeated cross-sectional study"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Background<\/strong> \u2014 Timely follow-up is crucial for youth whose first mental health contact is through a hospital; virtual care could facilitate this.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Objective<\/strong> \u2014 This study aimed to examine the association between the significant expansion of virtual care in Ontario, Canada, and follow-up mental health care rates for these youths.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Methods<\/strong> \u2014 We conducted a population-based repeated cross-sectional study using linked health administrative databases. We identified first-contact emergency department (ED) visits or hospital admissions for self-harm, mood disorders, or psychosis from March 1, 2009, to February 29, 2024, among Ontario youth (aged 10-24 years). Virtual care was expanded in March 2020; we examined 2 expansion stages (temporary and permanent). Autoregressive integrated moving average analyses estimated level and slope changes (vs before virtual care) in age- and sex-standardized monthly rates of 7-day mental health follow-up. Subgroup analyses examined rurality and socioeconomic status.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Results<\/strong> \u2014 We identified 42,208 first-contact ED visits and 17,701 first-contact hospital admissions. Pre\u2013virtual care mean follow-up rates were 17.64 (SD 2.97) per 100 first-contact ED visits and 21.90 (SD 5.05) per 100 first-contact hospital admissions. Temporary expansion was associated with immediate increases in follow-up that declined (level changes: 4.81, 95% CI 2.82-6.81 for ED visits and 7.51, 95% CI 4.41-10.60 for hospital admissions; slope changes: \u22120.31, 95% CI \u22120.42 to \u22120.21 for ED visits and \u22120.32, 95% CI \u22120.48 to \u22120.15 for hospital admissions). Permanent expansion was associated only with an immediate decrease in ED visit follow-up (level change: \u22123.81, 95% CI \u22126.70 to \u22120.92) that was significant in rural (\u22121.06, 95% CI \u22121.93 to \u22120.184) but not urban (0.44, 95% CI \u22120.179 to 1.06) areas; results were otherwise similar between subgroups.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conclusions<\/strong> \u2014 Virtual care was not associated with sustained changes or equity improvements in mental health follow-up for high-acuity youth, representing a missed opportunity to extend physician reach and address barriers. Further research and quality improvement are needed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Background \u2014 Timely follow-up is crucial for youth whose first mental health contact is through a hospital; virtual care could facilitate this. Objective \u2014 This study aimed to examine the association between the significant expansion of virtual care in Ontario, Canada, and follow-up mental health care rates for these youths. Methods \u2014 We conducted a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","migration-helper-automated":[],"migration-manual":[],"topic":[34,35],"migration-helper-qa-sample-set":[],"class_list":["post-24483","journal_article","type-journal_article","status-publish","hentry","topic-mental-health-and-addictions","topic-public-health"],"acf":{"citation":"Wennberg E, Hamovitch E, Patrikar A, Austin PC, Kurdyak P, Nelson KE, Babujee A, Guttmann A. <em>JMIR Ment Health<\/em> 2026; 13: e94389.","source_url":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.2196\/94389","ices_scientist":[1385,1152,1300,1238],"site":[6733],"research_program":[6740],"news_release":"","journal_article":"","atlas":"","research_report":"","infographic":"","video":"","downloads":null,"links":null,"sitecore_item_id":"","sitecore_item_name":"","sitecore_field_values":"","previous_url":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>ICES | Virtual care expansion and physician follow-up among youth with first mental health contact through a hospital: population-based repeated cross-sectional study<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Background \u2014 Timely follow-up is crucial for youth whose first mental health contact is through a hospital; virtual care could facilitate this. 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