Telemedicine became an integral part of health services delivery during the COVID pandemic for Canada and will likely remain so thereafter due to potential for improving access and patient satisfaction.
However, telemedicine likely has its limits. Telemedicine may not be suitable for all cases. Telemedicine can mainly provide visual and verbal information, and some medical conditions and complaints require additional forms of information. Using telemedicine for inappropriate medical conditions or complaints may undermine the technical quality of care.
Drawing on administrative data, this project seeks to examine the kinds of medical conditions and complaints associated with worse quality of care on telemedicine, if continuity of care mitigates such adverse impact, and if such negative impact is distributed inequitably. The findings has implications for policymakers, health care organization leaders, providers, and medical educators regarding how to best adjust the relevant policies and practices so that telemedicine can be used most appropriately.