{"id":4087,"date":"2023-01-12T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-12T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/icesontario.wpengine.com\/journal-articles\/characteristics-and-health-care-use-of-patients-attending-virtual-walk-in-clinics-in-ontario-canada-cross-sectional-analysis-3\/"},"modified":"2023-07-19T15:22:59","modified_gmt":"2023-07-19T19:22:59","slug":"characteristics-and-health-care-use-of-patients-attending-virtual-walk-in-clinics-in-ontario-canada-cross-sectional-analysis-3","status":"publish","type":"journal_article","link":"https:\/\/www.ices.on.ca\/fr\/publications\/journal-articles\/characteristics-and-health-care-use-of-patients-attending-virtual-walk-in-clinics-in-ontario-canada-cross-sectional-analysis-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Characteristics and healthcare use of patients attending virtual walk-in clinics in Ontario, Canada: cross-sectional analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Background<\/strong> \u2014 Funding changes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic supported the growth of direct-to-consumer virtual walk-in clinics in several countries. Little is known about patients who attend virtual walk-in clinics or how these clinics contribute to care continuity and subsequent healthcare use. <\/p>\n

Objectives<\/strong> \u2014The objective of the present study was to describe the characteristics and measure the healthcare use of patients who attended virtual walk-in clinics compared to the general population and a subset that received any virtual family physician visit.<\/p>\n

Methods<\/strong> \u2014 This was a retrospective, cross-sectional study in Ontario, Canada. Patients who had received a family physician visit at 1 of 13 selected virtual walk-in clinics from April 1 to December 31, 2020, were compared to Ontario residents who had any virtual family physician visit. The main outcome was postvisit healthcare use.<\/p>\n

Results<\/strong> \u2014 Virtual walk-in patients (n=132,168) had fewer comorbidities and lower previous healthcare use than Ontarians with any virtual family physician visit. Virtual walk-in patients were also less likely to have a subsequent in-person visit with the same physician (309\/132,168, 0.2% vs 704,759\/6,412,304, 11%; standardized mean difference [SMD] 0.48), more likely to have a subsequent virtual visit (40,030\/132,168, 30.3% vs 1,403,778\/6,412,304, 21.9%; SMD 0.19), and twice as likely to have an emergency department visit within 30 days (11,003\/132,168, 8.3% vs 262,509\/6,412,304, 4.1%; SMD 0.18), an effect that persisted after adjustment and across urban\/rural resident groups.<\/p>\n

Conclusions<\/strong> \u2014 Compared to Ontarians attending any family physician virtual visit, virtual walk-in patients were less likely to have a subsequent in-person physician visit and were more likely to visit the emergency department. These findings will inform policy makers aiming to ensure the integration of virtual visits with longitudinal primary care.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Background \u2014 Funding changes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic supported the growth of direct-to-consumer virtual walk-in clinics in several countries. Little is known about patients who attend virtual walk-in clinics or how these clinics contribute to care continuity and subsequent healthcare use.  Objectives \u2014The objective of the present study was to describe the characteristics […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","migration-helper-automated":[],"migration-manual":[],"topic":[62],"migration-helper-qa-sample-set":[],"class_list":["post-4087","journal_article","type-journal_article","status-publish","hentry","topic-health-services-research"],"acf":{"citation":"Lapointe-Shaw L, Salahub C, Bird C, Bhatia RS, Desveaux L, Glazier RH, Hedden L, Ivers NM, Martin D, Na Y, Spithoff S, Tadrous M, Kiran T. J Med Internet Res<\/em>. 2023; 25:e40267. Epub 2023 Jan 12.","source_url":"https:\/\/www.jmir.org\/2023\/1\/e40267","ices_scientist":[1145,1287,1250,1273,1178,1108],"site":[6733],"research_program":[6747],"news_release":[7909],"journal_article":"","atlas":"","research_report":"","infographic":[9449],"video":"","downloads":null,"links":null,"sitecore_item_id":"530BEDB2-B0D6-4103-B66E-2D286EFCBBE2","sitecore_item_name":"Characteristics-and-health-care-use-of-patients-attending-virtual-walk-in-clinics","sitecore_field_values":"{\r\n \"Title\": \"Characteristics and healthcare use of patients attending virtual walk-in clinics in Ontario, Canada: cross-sectional analysis\",\r\n \"Short title\": \"Characteristics and healthcare use of\",\r\n \"Summary\": \"The study objective was to measure the healthcare use of patients who attended virtual walk-in clinics compared to the general population.\",\r\n \"Citation\": \"

Lapointe-Shaw L, Salahub C, Bird C, Bhatia RS, Desveaux L, Glazier RH, Hedden L, Ivers NM, Martin D, Na Y, Spithoff S, Tadrous M, Kiran T. J Med Internet Res<\/em>. 2023; 25:e40267. Epub 2023 Jan 12. DOI: https:\/\/doi.org\/10.2196\/40267<\/a><\/p>\",\r\n \"Abstract\": \"

Background<\/strong> — Funding changes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic supported the growth of direct-to-consumer virtual walk-in clinics in several countries. Little is known about patients who attend virtual walk-in clinics or how these clinics contribute to care continuity and subsequent healthcare use. <\/p>n

Objectives<\/strong> —The objective of the present study was to describe the characteristics and measure the healthcare use of patients who attended virtual walk-in clinics compared to the general population and a subset that received any virtual family physician visit.<\/p>n

Methods<\/strong> — This was a retrospective, cross-sectional study in Ontario, Canada. Patients who had received a family physician visit at 1 of 13 selected virtual walk-in clinics from April 1 to December 31, 2020, were compared to Ontario residents who had any virtual family physician visit. The main outcome was postvisit healthcare use.<\/p>n

Results<\/strong> — Virtual walk-in patients (n=132,168) had fewer comorbidities and lower previous healthcare use than Ontarians with any virtual family physician visit. Virtual walk-in patients were also less likely to have a subsequent in-person visit with the same physician (309\/132,168, 0.2% vs 704,759\/6,412,304, 11%; standardized mean difference [SMD] 0.48), more likely to have a subsequent virtual visit (40,030\/132,168, 30.3% vs 1,403,778\/6,412,304, 21.9%; SMD 0.19), and twice as likely to have an emergency department visit within 30 days (11,003\/132,168, 8.3% vs 262,509\/6,412,304, 4.1%; SMD 0.18), an effect that persisted after adjustment and across urban\/rural resident groups.<\/p>n

Conclusions<\/strong> — Compared to Ontarians attending any family physician virtual visit, virtual walk-in patients were less likely to have a subsequent in-person physician visit and were more likely to visit the emergency department. These findings will inform policy makers aiming to ensure the integration of virtual visits with longitudinal primary care.<\/p>n

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