Canadian Medical Association

The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) released a national poll today showing Canadians are embracing virtual care options and would like to not only see them continued after the COVID-19 crisis subsides, but improved and expanded in the future.

The national poll conducted by Abacus Data between May 14—17, 2020 found almost half of all Canadians have now accessed a physician using virtual care options and are highly satisfied with the results.

Those who connected with their doctor virtually during COVID-19 report a 91% satisfaction rate — 17 points higher than in-person emergency room visits. Moving forward, almost half (46%) of Canadians who had the opportunity to use virtual care since the pandemic outbreak would prefer a virtual method as a first point of contact with their doctor.

“Physical distancing measures designed to keep Canadians safe during our fight against COVID-19 have led to the adoption of virtual care out of necessity. We need to build on this momentum. Canadians should be able to access health care in a timely and convenient fashion.” - Dr. Sandy Buchman, CMA president

The poll also highlighted that half of Canadians believe virtual care could impact the cost of our health care system, improve access to specialists (45%) and timeliness of test results (41%).

Earlier this year, a CMA-led task force issued a report outlining recommendations on how the federal government and stakeholders can improve and expand virtual care throughout Canada.

“What’s needed now is for the federal government to facilitate a pan-Canadian framework for virtual care, with provinces and territories playing a key role in how virtual care is improved and expanded,” says Virtual Care Task Force Co-Chair and CMA Past President, Dr. Gigi Osler. “All Canadians – from urban to rural, remote and Indigenous communities – can benefit from more choice and convenience when it comes to how health care is accessed and delivered.”


More information related to the Virtual Care Task Force and public opinion research can be found at https://www.cma.ca/virtual-care


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