Quebec auditor general concerned about booming telemedicine, quality of care
Global News
The auditor general says the Health Department has not provided a framework for when consultations can be carried out remotely and when a physical examination is required.
Quebec’s auditor general is concerned that a boom in telemedicine since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic two years ago will have a negative impact on the quality of care offered to the population.
In her 2021-2022 annual report made public Wednesday, Guylaine Leclerc says the Health Department has not provided a framework for when consultations can be carried out remotely and when a physical examination is required.
Her report states health-care providers and the Health Department weren’t ready for the surge in telemedicine that came with the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020.
Since then, the department, headed by Health Minister Christian Dubé, has still not assessed the extent to which virtual care has contributed to improving the quality of care provided to patients.
As a result, she concluded, the practice of telemedicine could affect the quality of care provided.
The province’s emergency decree, adopted in March 2020, permitted doctors to be paid for remote care, which wasn’t the case before.
This week's record-setting temperatures in southern Alberta, combined with strong winds, a recent lack of precipitation and dry conditions, mean a growing danger of wildfires.
Three cancer types — lung, stomach and cervical cancer — accounted for nearly half of all preventable cancer cases in both men and women globally, a new study has found.
The former CEO of the IWK Health Centre has been sentenced to nine months in jail for defrauding the children's hospital during her time in charge.
Consuming raw dairy products can expose people to a variety of illnesses including avian influenza, brucella, tuberculosis, Salmonella, and E. coli, among other pathogens.
Oceans North, a non-profit environmental group, says western Hudson Bay is home to about one-quarter of the world's beluga whale population.
Perhaps one of the best embodiments of Canadians' ability to embrace winter, rather than hide from it, pops up every December at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers.
Nipah virus has a death rate ranging from 45 to 75 per cent, and there is no vaccine or medical treatment available for animals or humans.