College tells Manitoba doctors virtual-only medicine 'not an acceptable standard'

Manitoba doctors have received a clear message from their regulators: in-person appointments should be the norm now that more than 83% of the province’s residents are fully vaccinated. "In-person care should be the standard, with virtual medicine complementing in-person visits," Dr. Ainslie Mihalchuk, assistant registrar at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba, was quoted in a Winnipeg Free Press article. "Virtual medicine is beneficial for many reasons, but it has also highlighted the importance of in-person care." The college released a new standard of practice for virtual medicine this week underlining its expectation for member to provide timely in-person care when clinically indicated or requested by the patient. Read: Ontario government urges doctors to provide in person visits over virtual “It is not an acceptable standard of care to solely practice virtual medicine,” the college stated on its website. “A blended model of care balancing in-person and virtual medicine is required if providing virtual medicine.” There are exceptions to these requirements. Patients in rural and remote communities can continue to receive care primarily through virtual medicine. Some specialist referrals and certain patients getting treatment through Manitoba CancerCare will also not be affected by the new standard. Dr. Mihalchuk said many physicians in the province had to shift to virtual medicine at the start of the pandemic because of the shortage at the time of personal protective equipment. But access to PPE is no longer a problem in the province. What is increasingly becoming an issue, however, are the unnecessary referrals to specialists by family doctors who haven't assessed referred patients in-person, said Dr. Mihalchuk. For example, one ear, nose and throat specialist complained about getting referrals for several patients with earaches that could have been treated by their family doctors had they looked in the patients’ ears. But Manitobans do want continued access to virtual care, said Dr. Mihalchuk. "This summer, we asked the public to share their experience with virtual medicine through an online survey. The feedback we received from the public indicated that a majority had good experiences and wanted virtual medicine to continue after the pandemic," she said. You can read the full new practice standard here. Read: Manitoba announces 3rd dose strategy

College tells Manitoba doctors virtual-only medicine 'not an acceptable standard'

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