Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Mar 27, 2023
Open Peer Review Period: Mar 27, 2023 - Mar 28, 2023
Date Accepted: Mar 28, 2023
Date Submitted to PubMed: Mar 28, 2023
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Virtual First Emergency Medicine Visits: The Future of Convenient and Efficient Emergency Care
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to increased patient volumes, staff shortages, and limited resources in emergency departments (EDs), resulting in the rapid acceleration of telemedicine in emergency medicine. The Virtual First (VF) program connects patients with Emergency Medicine Clinicians (EMCs) via synchronous virtual video visits, reducing unnecessary ED visits and diverting patients to appropriate care settings. VF video visits can improve patient outcomes by providing early intervention for acute care needs and can enhance patient satisfaction by providing convenient, accessible, and personalized care. However, challenges include the lack of physical examination, clinician telehealth training and competencies, and the requirement for a robust telemedicine infrastructure. Additionally, digital health equity is important to ensure equitable access to care. Despite these challenges, the potential benefits of VF video visits in emergency medicine are significant, and this study is a strong step in building the evidence base for these advancements.
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Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.