Patient nonattendance rates pre-post COVID-19

COVID-19 Research Area(s): Healthcare Delivery & Policy

1. Purpose: To measure the impact of a virtual care (telephone and telehealth) service model on patient nonattendance (PN) rates at the UBC Pharmacists Clinic, a pharmacist-led clinic, before and after a complete transition to virtual care.
 2: Hypothesis: The PN rates are higher after a complete transitions to virtual care (during COVID-19 pandemic) than pre-COVID-19 pandemic.
 3. Justification: In 2020, the global COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the uptake of virtual service models in health care. Given the convenience of virtual care, its implementation has the potential to reduce PN caused by the inconvenience of traditional health appointments. Information is lacking on PN rates in traditional (mix model) versus virtual care (phone and video call) clinic settings.
 4. Objectives: to assess difference of PN rates between traditional and virtual care models.