An Organizational Case Study of Mental Models among Health System Leaders during Early-Stage Implementation of a Population Health Approach.

Purpose: As the COVID-19 pandemic recedes, the importance of population health has come into sharp focus, prompting many health systems to explore leveraging population health data (PHD) for operational planning. This approach requires that healthcare leaders embrace the dual priorities of maintaining excellence in patient care while promoting the overall health of populations. However, many leaders are new to population-based thinking, posing a threat to successful operationalization if mental models are not aligned.

The Implementation of a Virtual Emergency Department: Multimethods Study Guided by the RE-AIM (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance) Framework.

Background: While the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically increased virtual care uptake across many health settings, it remains significantly underused in urgent care.

Objective: This study evaluated the implementation of a pilot virtual emergency department (VED) at an Ontario hospital that connected patients to emergency physicians through a web-based portal. We sought to (1) assess the acceptability of the VED model, (2) evaluate whether the VED was implemented as intended, and (3) explore the impact on quality of care, access to care, and continuity of care.

Building Compassionate Experience Through Compassionate Action: Qualitative Behavioral Analysis.

Background: The acceleration of technology-based primary care during the COVID-19 pandemic outpaced the ability to understand whether and how it impacts care delivery and outcomes. As technology-based care continues to evolve, focusing on the core construct of compassion in a primary care context will help ensure high-quality patient care and increased patient autonomy and satisfaction. The ability to successfully operationalize the use of technology in patient-clinician interactions hinges on understanding not only how compassionate care is experienced in this context but also how clinicians can create it.

Understanding how virtual care has shifted primary care interactions and patient experience: A qualitative analysis.

Introduction: The widespread and rapid implementation of virtual care has introduced evolutionary changes in the context, process, and way primary care is delivered. The objectives of this study were to: (1) understand whether and how virtual care has shifted the therapeutic relationship; (2) describe the core components of compassionate care from the patient perspective and (3) identify how and in what circumstances compassionate care might be amplified.

Methods: Participants living in Ontario, Canada were eligible if they had interacted with their primary care clinician following the rapid implementation of virtual care in March 2020, irrespective of virtual care use.

Implementing a Virtual Emergency Department: Qualitative Study Using the Normalization Process Theory.

Background: COVID-19 necessitated the rapid implementation and uptake of virtual health care; however, virtual care's potential role remains unclear in the urgent care setting. In December 2020, the first virtual emergency department (ED) in the Greater Toronto Area was piloted at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre by connecting patients to emergency physicians through an online portal.

Objective: This study aims to understand whether and how ED physicians were able to integrate a virtual ED alongside in-person operations.