Can virtual health care save a collapsing system?

Most of us had a virtual health care appointment sometime during the pandemic. Those of us that didn't have almost certainly encountered virtual care of some form or another—whether that's a follow-up phone call from your doctor, or post-surgery instructions emailed to you.

As we enter the post-pandemic era, there is a push in some quarters for more virtual care—it can improve access, speed things up and give people more control over their own care and medical records. But will it also simply create more visits, encourage unnecessary appointments and further burden an overtaxed system? There's a line we need to walk here—can we do it?

GUEST: Dr. Tara Kiran, Fidani Chair in Improvement and Innovation at the University of Toronto; family doctor and scientist at St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto