Complexity of medical needs and primary care attachment shape patient experiences with episodic virtual primary care: a mixed methods study in two Canadian provinces

BMC Primary Care

卷:27

Research

Rebecca H. Correia¹  Emran Hasan¹  François Gallant^1,2  Shelley Doucet³  Tara Kiran^4,5,6  Lauren Lapointe-Shaw⁷  A. Luke MacNeill³  Rachel Thelen⁸  Stephanie Welton⁹  Julie Easley^1,10  Agnes Grudniewicz⁸  Lindsay Hedden¹¹  M. Ruth Lavergne¹ 

[1] Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, V5A 1S6, Burnaby, BC, Canada

[2] Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, 6 Queens Park Crescent West, M5S 3H2, Toronto, ON, Canada

[3] Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa, 55 Laurier Avenue East, K1N 6N5, Ottawa, ON, Canada

[4] Department of Family Medicine, Dalhousie University, 1465 Brenton Street, Suite 402, B3J 3T4, Halifax, NS, Canada

[5] Centre for Research in Integrated Care, University of New Brunswick, 355 Campus Ring Road, E2L 4L5, Saint John, NB, Canada

[6] Department of Family and Community Medicine, Temerty Faculty of Medicine and the Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation, University of Toronto, 500 University Avenue, M5G 1V7, Toronto, ON, Canada

[7] Réseau de Santé Vitalité, 185 Acadie Avenue, E1A 1G6, Dieppe, NB, Canada

[8] Department of Family and Community Medicine, St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, 30 Bond Street, M5B 1W8, Toronto, ON, Canada

[9] Department of Medical Education, Horizon Health Network, 700 Priestman Street, E3B 5N5, Fredericton, NB, Canada

[10] Department of Family Medicine (South West Nova Site), Dalhousie University, 60 Vancouver Street, B5A 2P5, Yarmouth, NS, Canada

[11] MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, 209 Victoria Street, M5B 1X3, Toronto, ON, Canada

关键词: Telemedicine;    Episodic virtual care;    Virtual primary care;    Digital health;    Primary health care;    Patient experience;    Physicians;    Family;    Nurse practitioners;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12875-026-03441-z

 received in 2025-08-25, accepted in 2026-06-17,  发布年份 2026

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundEpisodic virtual care (EVC) offers patients rapid access to virtual primary care services but lacks relational continuity with a primary care clinician or team. We investigated patients’ experiences with EVC and examined differences based on access to a regular primary care clinician and self-reported complexity of medical needs.MethodsIn this convergent parallel mixed methods study, we conducted a descriptive and exploratory survey of EVC users’ health service access, self-reported medical needs, EVC use, and demographics. Participants included adults (aged ≥ 18) living in Nova Scotia or New Brunswick who self-reported using EVC in the past year. We used descriptive statistics to summarize numeric and ordinal data of patient experience and stratified findings by having a regular primary care clinician and medical complexity. We conducted inductive content analysis of free-text survey responses. We integrated quantitative and qualitative data at the interpretation phase.ResultsWe identified mixed experiences among EVC users, with quantitative data portraying virtual care experiences more favourably than free-text responses. Most users felt EVC met their health needs, although those without a regular primary care clinician and with greater medical complexity tended to rate experiences less favourably. In free-text responses, some participants expressed concerns with the technological aspects of virtual visits and voiced preferences for in-person care. Patients with a regular primary care clinician tended to access EVC for short-term health concerns, whereas those without a regular primary care clinician sought care for ongoing/chronic problems and prescription renewals.ConclusionsEVC is helping to address some gaps in access, particularly for patients without a regular primary care clinician, by providing care where there might otherwise be none. However, EVC often falls short of meeting ongoing and more comprehensive care needs, underscoring the importance of improving access to longitudinal primary care.

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC-ND   
© The Author(s) 2026

【 图 表 】

Fig. 1

Figure 4. Expression of MEK1-Nluc.

Figure 6. Morphometry analysis workflow on Tau-STED images of NAG1 (upper panel) and MEMB (lower panel).