A study led by researchers with the Ontario Medical Association found no evidence patients substituted hospital emergency rooms for virtual visits with their family doctor in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Researchers say the peer-reviewed study, published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, is significant given recent calls to reduce virtual service over quality-of-care concerns and ER burdens.
The study says there was no evidence the pivot to virtual visits by family doctors at the outset of the pandemic led patients to turn to emergency departments instead.
Researchers analyzed data from nearly 8,000 Ontario doctors practising in family health groups and family health organizations with rostered patients.
OMA president Rose Zacharias says the shift to virtual primary care at the outset of the pandemic prompted questions about whether the move had placed additional strain on emergency departments.
She says the study shows no link.