Virtual care: from curative to preventive
Published on February 15, 2024
By: Myriam Auclair
Product Leader, Group Insurance
Group Benefits and Retirement Solutions
iA Financial Group
The pandemic has shown the value of virtual care as a treatment tool. But it can play a bigger role in a holistic healthcare and wellness offering, all the way from prevention through to treatment and recovery.
A growing trend
Virtual care is definitely on the rise. In 2023, a survey conducted by Abacus Data1 on behalf of the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA) reported that more than half of Canadians (55%) used virtual care. Of these, a third used it more than once.
The pandemic prompted many more people to turn to virtual medicine, and almost nine out of ten people (89%) reported being satisfied with the care and services they received. In fact, a third of those surveyed would like their first contact with the healthcare system to now be virtual, according to Abacus Data.
This suggests that virtual care, originally used as a way to access treatment, is now an integral part of a preventive approach in the holistic management of health and total wellness.
Many advantages
Virtual care has many advantages, notes the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) in its 2022 Virtual Care in Canada2 report. This is especially the case for chronic diseases, mental health and substance use issues. For many people, access to virtual care is crucial for managing chronic illnesses.
Moreover, Canadian physicians seem enthusiastic about virtual care: CIHI reports that 84% of those surveyed in 2022 were satisfied with the practice of virtual care, which is seeing an increase in usage. CIHI also reports a positive impact on certain variables, such as the speed of intervention and the effective assessment of mental and behavioural health needs.
An opportunity for plan sponsors
From the Canadian plan sponsor’s standpoint, offering virtual care has been noted to make a difference for group insurance plan members. First, virtual care has a positive effect on plan members’ satisfaction, as revealed in the 2023 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey3.
Virtual care also allows for a wide range of needs to be covered, particularly for people recovering from a serious injury, requiring mental health support, who have caregiver responsibilities or have children under 18 years of age, notes the Benefits Canada survey.
However, virtual care programs are often underutilized, with only 33% of plan members making use of them. If companies raise awareness about the benefits of virtual care, more plan members will use it and its value will grow.
We can help
Virtual medicine, integrated into the continuum of care, is equally suited to prevention, early intervention and follow-up. It helps plan members avoid unnecessary travel and wait times, helps to reduce absenteeism and improves productivity as a result.
1 Canadians & Health Care - 2023 Health system innovation, virtual care, mental health - Abacus Data
2 Virtual care in Canada | CIHI
3 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey 2023