ESTEVAN — Dr. Boye Adeboye at the Estevan Family Health Practice has started offering virtual visits for patients.
According to Adeboye, his wish in starting a new practice has always been leveraging information technology to improve access for patients. They started with online booking, outbound email communication to clients and a check-in kiosk.
"During the short existence of our practice, we have kept up to date with the Saskatchewan government plan to allow and facilitate virtual visits," Adeboye wrote in a news release.
Now that the provincial government has given them permission, they are pleased to be an early adopter of what Adeboye said is truly the way forward in what he views as the 21st-century practice of medicine.
He tried it for the first time earlier this month and it worked quite well.
"We've invited a couple of people to just try it out to see that it works, to see that the voice connection with all of the individuals is fine," said Adeboye.
They wanted to have a couple of trial sessions before announcing that it's available to use.
This idea was born during the COVID-19 pandemic when the government allowed family doctors to take telephone call appointments for the first time.
"We are not the first to try the ... app for the province," said Adeboye. "I think we are just bringing it on board for Estevan."
There are many advantages to having a virtual visit, he said. First, unless an in-person visit is necessary, people do not have to stop their normal activities, come to the office and wait for an appointment that might be running late.
"You can continue with your routine activity and when the physician calls, you simply accept the call, and you can meet in a secure virtual room to discuss your health needs," said Adeboye.
There is the potential in the future to allow other people to sit in for appointments.
"If somebody had a family member in Ontario or in the States, and they want to participate and listen in on that consult, we can have easier access. Essentially if someone is worried, their friend or family member ... can just be in the consult instead of flying down to Estevan. But again, we're not at that stage. At the moment, we're still focusing on a simple call so far."
A virtual visit can especially be advantageous in the winter when there is a risk of a fall or injury for vulnerable populations. It also means families can save the cost and stress of organizing transportation to bring their loved ones to the office.
"It is important to understand that whilst virtual visits are beneficial, not all types of situations are suitable for a virtual visit," he said. "If you are very ill, or new symptoms are appearing despite treatment, it is best to come into the office for an in-person review.
"Matters or requests like prescription refills, referral requests, sick notes, a mental health review, lab test review, general follow-up, rashes and mild illness/infection are ideally the best scenarios for a virtual visit request," said Adeboye.
There will also be those who will prefer an in-person visit. Also, a person might have a virtual appointment and then require a face-to-face follow-up meeting.
Adeboye said it's hard to tell how many people will want to have an online appointment.
"When we started doing telephone calls, we thought most people will still want to come in, but we're surprised at how many people were happy to do telephone calls," said Adeboye. "Now with the opportunity to have a video, I think there will be more people keen on that."
There is also a limit on how many virtual appointments they can have in a year.
To meet online, the SK Virtual Visit app must be downloaded to your phone or computer. Then you sign up on the app; Adeboye noted the information required is no more than what already exists on the Saskatchewan eHealth portal. After this, you can receive an invitation to join the clinic's virtual room. This invite is personal to you and your dependants making the virtual visits, very secure and confidential.
"Every time you have an appointment, you will receive a message when the doctor is ready. Just like a phone call, all you need to do is accept the call to start a video virtual visit."
