The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been felt across the world. Throughout its challenges and tragedies, the pandemic has also been a catalyst for positive effects. For one clinic in a small town on Vancouver Island, the pandemic sparked the transformation in how it delivers care to its patients. “Before COVID-19, my clinic was not offering any form of virtual care. All visits were in person,” tells Dr Ashraf El Karsh, a family physician in Qualicum Beach. “The pandemic changed everything, and we had to change as well –and move quickly.”
Family doctors who have completed panel management are eligible for a new $1,000 GPSC payment if they enrol in HDC Discover and complete the orientation in the web based application. The payment supports family doctors to utilize the application to make data-informed quality improvements in their practices. HDC Discover is a is a physician-led web based application that supports quality improvement in primary care.
On June 7, 2021, more than 250 physician leaders and health care partners across BC joined the GPSC’s online learning exchange on adopting virtual health care services as a complement to in-person primary care and to foster continuity of care and longitudinal care.
In a year of uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic, the General Practice Services Committee (GPSC) successfully executed on its planned activities and unplanned efforts. Take a look at highlights from the GPSC’s activities, outcomes, and achievements between April 2020 and March 2021 in the GPSC’s 2020/21 Year-in-Review.
CareConnect is a secure, view-only electronic health record that provides key patient information to health care providers in support of their delivery of patient care. It enables health care providers to see a patient’s medical history, acute care records, medications, lab work, and imaging reports all in one place.