Doctors are being provided with the opportunity to use videoconferencing as a way to see their patients during the pandemic.
Telus has introduced updates to their electronic medical records which allow doctors to conduct virtual visits with their patients and access medical records at the same time
Luc Vilandr, the president of Telus health and payment solutions, said patients can also book visits with their doctors.
“Virtual care is something that’s been I would say present in the ecosystem in the industry for a while,” he said.
The technology will allow physicians to use virtual care fee codes through this EMR service as well.
Vilandr said if doctors weren’t able to use the virtual fare fee codes, this technology would have been harder to make happen.
“I would say [it happened because of] the necessity of the COVID-19 crisis, bringing all provinces in Canada to enable physicians to conduct video consults,” he said.
Vilandr said the system will allow physicians to see their patients and provide continuity of care and up to date health records.
He said at the moment the service is being offered free for four months to cover the core of the crisis, but that may be extended depending on how things proceed with the pandemic.
“We reacted to the situation to give our customers the right tools to be able to adapt to the situation, mainly the physical segregation that’s been asked by the health authorities,” he said.
Vilandr said there are 100 out of the 1,800 family physicians in the province taking advantage of this service.
