%0 Journal Article
%@ 1438-8871
%I JMIR Publications
%V 25
%N 
%P e40267
%T Characteristics and Health Care Use of Patients Attending Virtual Walk-in Clinics in Ontario, Canada: Cross-sectional Analysis
%A Lapointe-Shaw,Lauren
%A Salahub,Christine
%A Bird,Cherryl
%A Bhatia,R Sacha
%A Desveaux,Laura
%A Glazier,Richard H
%A Hedden,Lindsay
%A Ivers,Noah M
%A Martin,Danielle
%A Na,Yingbo
%A Spithoff,Sheryl
%A Tadrous,Mina
%A Kiran,Tara
%+ Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, University Health Network and Sinai Health System, 200 Elizabeth Street, Toronto, ON, M5G 2C4, Canada, 1 416 340 4800 ext 7136, lauren.lapointe.shaw@utoronto.ca
%K virtual walk-in clinic
%K telemedicine
%K virtual care
%K primary health care
%K family practice
%K family physicians
%K Canada
%K health care use
%K emergency department
%K walk-in clinic
%K use
%K engagement
%K virtual health care
%K integration
%D 2023
%7 12.1.2023
%9 Original Paper
%J J Med Internet Res
%G English
%X Background: Funding changes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic supported the growth of direct-to-consumer virtual walk-in clinics in several countries. Little is known about patients who attend virtual walk-in clinics or how these clinics contribute to care continuity and subsequent health care use. Objective: The objective of the present study was to describe the characteristics and measure the health care use of patients who attended virtual walk-in clinics compared to the general population and a subset that received any virtual family physician visit. Methods: This was a retrospective, cross-sectional study in Ontario, Canada. Patients who had received a family physician visit at 1 of 13 selected virtual walk-in clinics from April 1 to December 31, 2020, were compared to Ontario residents who had any virtual family physician visit. The main outcome was postvisit health care use. Results: Virtual walk-in patients (n=132,168) had fewer comorbidities and lower previous health care use than Ontarians with any virtual family physician visit. Virtual walk-in patients were also less likely to have a subsequent in-person visit with the same physician (309/132,168, 0.2% vs 704,759/6,412,304, 11%; standardized mean difference [SMD] 0.48), more likely to have a subsequent virtual visit (40,030/132,168, 30.3% vs 1,403,778/6,412,304, 21.9%; SMD 0.19), and twice as likely to have an emergency department visit within 30 days (11,003/132,168, 8.3% vs 262,509/6,412,304, 4.1%; SMD 0.18), an effect that persisted after adjustment and across urban/rural resident groups. Conclusions: Compared to Ontarians attending any family physician virtual visit, virtual walk-in patients were less likely to have a subsequent in-person physician visit and were more likely to visit the emergency department. These findings will inform policy makers aiming to ensure the integration of virtual visits with longitudinal primary care. 
%M 36633894
%R 10.2196/40267
%U https://www.jmir.org/2023/1/e40267
%U https://doi.org/10.2196/40267
%U http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36633894