As much of society is shifting to the virtual world to connect amid the COVID-19 crisis, so too are doctors.
Many family physicians and walk-in clinics have switched to seeing the majority of patients by video chat to reduce the risk of spreading the virus.
Dr. Kathleen Ross, president of Doctors of B.C., said there鈥檚 a sense among the public that doctors are busy and don鈥檛 have time to see patients for regular issues.
That鈥檚 not the case, said Ross, a family doctor in Coquitlam. She pointed to the proliferation of online ads recommending for-profit medical services as one reason why patients are turning away from their family doctors, but Ross said these services can鈥檛 provide the same level of care as a family doctor who has known a patient for years. 鈥淚f the patients think that they鈥檙e bothering their family physician and don鈥檛 reach out, I鈥檓 deeply concerned that there could be negative health consequences,鈥� she said.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been actively trying to reach out to those in our practices that are most vulnerable to make sure that they know: 鈥榃e鈥檙e here for you,鈥� 鈥� Ross said.
Dr. Kathy Dabrus, a family physician with Victoria Division of Family Practice, said doctors are able to assess most patients鈥� needs via video calls.
鈥淲e can actually look at some things, so when people have something on their skin, or sometimes it鈥檚 easier to assess a patient when you can actually see them, see if they鈥檙e having difficulty breathing or see if they鈥檙e not looking well in terms of their colouring,鈥� she said.
She said doctors continue to see a small number of patients in-person if they require a physical examination and will refer patients to labs for x-rays or further testing if needed.
Doctors are still treating patients for conditions unrelated to COVID-19, but are deferring elective and preventative visits, including pap tests, prostate checks, annual physicals, and growth and development checks for healthy babies, Dabrus said.
The introduction of tele-health options had already been in the works to increase access to medical care for those with mobility challenges or living in remote areas, but COVID-19 speeded up the process, Dabrus said.
Patients have been open to the move, she said.
Dr. Ian Bridger, who runs four walk-in clinics in Greater Victoria that are providing tele-health care, anticipated virtual appointments filling up with people worried about COVID-19, but he has seen the opposite.
鈥淭he clinics are pretty quiet. Three weeks ago, we would have a queue of people outside the door every morning,鈥� he said.
Now he鈥檚 seeing just a slow trickle of patients. Bridger can鈥檛 say exactly why that is, but one possibility is that people aren鈥檛 getting sick as often now that they鈥檙e spending most of their time at home.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e not getting coughs and colds and things, because their kids aren鈥檛 at school, they鈥檙e not out,鈥� he said.
鈥淲e wondered whether they actually think the clinics are shut, because so many things are shut.鈥�
Bridger鈥檚 walk-in clinics aren鈥檛 the only ones experiencing abnormally short wait times.
A search on Medimap, which provides wait times for about 80 per cent of the province鈥檚 walk-in clinics, showed several clinics in Victoria with no wait time on Friday afternoon.
Medimap CEO Blake Adam said the drop in wait times started about two weeks ago and followed a 鈥渕assive surge鈥� in February as COVID-19 was slowly starting to spread in Canada.
鈥淥ver a one-week period, clinics started to shift toward just doing video and phone consultations and I think patients just stopped going to clinics. Over the past two weeks, it鈥檚 just been consistently dropping 鈥� the wait times to see a doctor,鈥� Adam said.
Medimap has introduced a service to connect patients with a doctor for a video call within 10 minutes.
Adam said the service connects patients looking for quick care with doctors who are available at that moment.
鈥淲hat we鈥檙e doing is using idle capacity in the system by connecting patients who are looking for immediate access to care and giving that to them and also ensuring that doctors are able to stay busy and keep the lights on at their clinics,鈥� Adam said.
For anyone worried they have COVID-19 symptoms, getting a virtual appointment with a doctor at a walk-in clinic is an alternative to calling the province鈥檚 busy 811 COVID-19 information line.
Doctors at Bridger鈥檚 four clinics 鈥� Burnside Family Medical Clinic, Uptown Medical Clinic, Tillicum Medical Clinic and Cook Street Village Medical Clinic 鈥� can assess whether a patient is exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms.
鈥淚f they鈥檙e fit and healthy, we鈥檙e mostly advising patients to stay home, but in special circumstances we can arrange for them to have an assessment done, where they might be tested, because those assessments are done by referral by a doctor,鈥� Bridger said.
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