Throughout this course I have focussed much of my research and learning on my own province of Newfoundland and Labrador. For this final blog post I will be discussing how the COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact of health service delivery in the province. Throughout NL, a large percentage of the population have limited access to a family doctor. The Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association found that nearly 90,000 Newfoundlanders and Labradorians do not have a family physician (Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association, 2021). The limited number of family physicians combined with the geographical area of NL, the discussion for years has been a focus on virtual care. This is a common trend throughout Canada and has been expedited due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I believe that this allows individuals in isolated areas and areas with no family physicians to have more access to health care.  

    In an article by Tang & Zhou (2020), the authors discuss how COVID-19 acted as a catalyst to assist with change to the Canadian health care system. They outline how the current pandemic brought about wide spread implementation of virtual care and telemedicine throughout the country. In the province of NL, telehealth allows residents of the mainland of Labrador access to specialist such as oncologists and cardiologist via videoconferencing without having to travel to the island portion of the province. This travel is usually very expensive to both the patient and the province. Telehealth also allows family physicians the ability to assess a patient without the patient actually having to come to the clinic. This is beneficial for many reasons especially during the pandemic and patients with mobility issues. Another benefit of telehealth is the ability for physicians who are treating a particular patient to gain access to a specialist opinion from a different area. In the following video, Dr. Dylan Blacquiere, a stroke neurologist in New Brunswick, is able to provide his expertise to remote patients and other professionals in other areas. 

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

 

(InfowayInforoute. (2020, February 5)).

​

​

Canadian Health Infoway (2020) outlines the benefits of Telehealth in Canada:
-Reduce barriers to access, such as living in a remote community, mobility issues and an inability to take time off work
-Save Canadians millions of dollars in personal travel costs and time off work
-Reduce wait times for access to care
-Reduce clinician travel time

​

     As with every new advancing approach to health care, there are interim limitations. The Canadian Medical Association outline some limitations which include limitations to compensation with respect to physicians being paid for certain services. Another limitation is 
portability of licensure of physicians from province to province. If physicians were able to be licensed countrywide, physicians with lower caseloads would be able to assist and take on patients from other provinces to provide virtual care. Another limitation is not all individuals have the equipment or skill to use technology to get access to virtual care. 

 

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

​

​

​

Canadian Medical Association. (2019)

​

​

​

Canadian Health Infoway. (2020). Telehealth. Retrieved from: https://www.infoway-

     inforoute.ca/en/solutions/digital-health-foundation/telehealth.

 

Canadian Medical Association. (2019). Virtual Care in Canada: Discussion Paper. Retrieved

     from:                                                                                                                                                          https://www.cma.ca/sites/default/files/pdf/News/Virtual_Care_discussionpaper_v2EN.

    pdf.

​

City News Toronto. (2020, September 27). The Future of Telemedicine. [Video]. 
      Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfIOrerBUwo.

 

InfowayInforoute. (2020, February 5). Dr. Dylan Blacquiere’s Story: Making the Health Care 

     System Accessible. [Video]. Youtube. 

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M437HszFxVQ&t=20s.

 

Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association. (2021). NLMA calls on leadership candidates

     to help the 90,000 people in NL without a family doctor. Retrieved from:                     

     https://www.nlma.nl.ca/News-And-Events/NLMA-News/Page/0/Article/371.

 

Tang, B., & Zhou, L. (2020). COVID-19: An Accidental Catalyst for Change in the 
     Canadian Health Care System. BC Medical Journal. 62(7). 242-246. Retrieved 
     from: https://bcmj.org/premise-covid-19/covid-19-accidental-catalyst-change-
     canadian- health-care-system.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

City News Toronto. (2020, September 27)