Today we are hosting a webinar on the new normal of virtual health. I am so excited to be putting this webinar on so we can include more people in the conversations surrounding Tele-Rehab 2.0 and, more broadly, tele-health. Our webinar will feature the perspectives of patient and family, clinician, and technologist. Taken together, these perspectives will give us a better understanding into how virtual health is impacting the healthcare system, those who work in it, and those who it serves.
During the pandemic, virtual health has exploded and there has been a positive response from both patients and clinicians. COVID-19 has shown people that not only can tele-health work, but it can work well. Virtual appointments mean there is no travel time, looking for parking, or sitting in waiting rooms. It also means hidden costs of appointments like missing work, finding childcare, gas, parking, and hotel stays are minimized. This saves patients time and money and also allows for clinicians to reduce wait times and see more patients, more effectively. Tele-health has revolutionized the way we think about healthcare. It is helping clinicians expand their reach and collaboration, giving patients their family time back, and providing equal access care.
There is no doubt there are many benefits to virtual health, but the rapid adoption of it has meant that clinicians are using any available technologies and that there are no existing guidelines. This is where our project comes in. We refer to the tele-health that is currently taking place as ‘tele-rehabilitation 1.0.’ Our project, Tele-Rehab 2.0, is set to continue the use of virtual care even as the pandemic winds down.
Tele-Rehab 2.0 is focused not only on improving access to rehabilitation services for rural Albertans and seniors, but also on improving the quality of rehabilitation assessments. Our project aims to continue the benefits observed from tele-rehabilitation 1.0, but also show that tele-rehab can be a first choice for care, and not just used out of necessity. Our technologies are data-driven and able to take objective measurements which are not currently used in face-to-face assessments. Virtual care is the future, and with our technologies it will continue to be easy and effective. All Albertans deserve equitable care, and virtual health can help us provide it.
If you are interested in learning more about the project or virtual health in general and would like to join us for the webinar you can register here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/virtual-health-our-new-normal-tickets-110217940828
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