The medical director of Sarnia's St. Joseph's Hospice believes virtual care born out of the COVID pandemic, is "the way of the future."
Dr. Glen Maddison COVID pandemic said as a palliative care physician, he's noticed a huge change in medical care since the pandemic began.
"Initially it was telephone, but gradually we were using more and more video and have really seen the benefit of that and hope that that continues once we, hopefully, get through this COVID crisis."
Dr. Maddison said virtual care the hospice uses offers a number of advantages over in-person visits, including allowing palliative care patients to be assessed in the comfort of their own home.
"And I think we can do almost, I would say 90 per cent of what we do in face-to-face. If I can see the patient, I can see their colour, I can see their breathing, I can see if they have swelling, I can look at how comfortable they are, and they can look me in the eye and we can develop that empathy, that trust that is so important with what I do in palliative care," he said. "There are times, if somebody has an abdominal pain and I have to examine their abdomen or I need to listen to the chest, I can't do that virtually. [But] a lot of the times when we see them in the office, we don't actually physically examine them."
Dr. Maddison said virtual care also allows the hospice to see patients more urgently.
"For instance, there's one rash from shingles that can be very dangerous in somebody that has cancer who's getting chemotherapy, and the sooner we treat that, literally within hours, the better the results are," he said. "If I make a house-call in Ipperwash or Grand Bend, that takes up my whole afternoon. And for patients to come in, and a lot of them are sick, they're on oxygen, they're in wheelchairs, to get them into the car is a huge problem. And also, there's a lot of missed appointments because of that, because they are just too weak or the weather's not good enough, so this way, with virtual, we can plan our visits around and they can sit in their own home."
Dr. Maddison said the hospice is still allowing in-person visits -- he said they currently make up about 40 per cent of their appointments.
He's hoping virtual care sticks around past the COVID pandemic.
"When the government came out and said they were going to support virtual visits and telehealth, they used the term 'temporary,' and I hope that they see the wisdom in going forward and making this permanent, that's what's really, really important here."
Dr. Maddison is hoping patients will advocate for the practice too.
To learn more about virtual care offered by the hospice, click here.
