Aligned with the College’s Strategic Priorities of having an informed national voice and fostering a connected community, we launched a new initiative called the CCHL National Conversation in June 2022. We gathered input from experts and College members on a topic of high relevance and importance to health leaders. Rapid Innovation & Leadership in Virtual Care was selected to be the focus of our first National Conversation.
The National Conversation took place over two virtual webinars. The first webinar hosted a panel of three experts on virtual care who shared their pre-pandemic status of virtual care, their pandemic experience of growth and adaptation to provide and support almost exclusive virtual care, and their visions for the future of virtual care in Canada. The second webinar brought registrants back to further discuss and identify their visions for virtual care in Canada, and the leadership behaviours, framed in LEADS, required to achieve the visions.
There was consensus throughout the National Conversation on virtual care becoming an essential part of the continuum of care, one in which it is fully accepted and not considered a distinct form of care delivery nor referred to as virtual, just ‘health care’. The expert panelists agreed that the rapid innovation seen during the pandemic was a consequence of a pre-pandemic mindset of flexibility and growth, along with an existing foundation of digital support which facilitated the rapid growth and innovation due to the pressing demand. The challenge upon health leaders is to maintain the mindset of opportunity and priority to ensure the full and appropriate integration of virtual care into our health system and ensuring equitable access for all Canadians and health system users, regardless of geography and socio-economic demographic.
To access the Executive Summary of the Rapid Innovation & Leadership in Virtual Care National Conversation, please download this PDF document.
