RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Family physician practice patterns during COVID-19 and future intentions
JF Canadian Family Physician
JO Can Fam Physician
FD The College of Family Physicians of Canada
SP 836
OP 846
DO 10.46747/cfp.6811836
VO 68
IS 11
A1 Tara Kiran
A1 Ri Wang
A1 Curtis Handford
A1 Nadine Laraya
A1 Azza Eissa
A1 Pauline Pariser
A1 Rebecca Brown
A1 Cheryl Pedersen
YR 2022
UL http://www.cfp.ca/content/68/11/836.abstract
AB Objective To determine the extent to which family physicians closed their doors altogether or for in-person visits during the pandemic, their future practice intentions, and related factors.Design Cross-sectional survey.Setting Six geographic areas in Toronto, Ont, aligned with Ontario Health Team regions.Participants Family doctors practising office-based, comprehensive family medicine.Main outcome measures Practice operations in January 2021, use of virtual care, and future plans.Results Of the 1016 (85.7%) individuals who responded to the survey, 99.7% (1001 of 1004) indicated their practices were open in January 2021, with 94.8% (928 of 979) seeing patients in person and 30.8% (264 of 856) providing in-person care to patients reporting COVID-19 symptoms. Respondents estimated spending 58.2% of clinical care time on telephone visits, 5.8% on video appointments, and 7.5% on e-mail or secure messaging. Among respondents, 17.5% (77 of 439) were planning to close their existing practices in the next 5 years. There were higher proportions of physicians who worked alone in clinics among those who did not see patients in person (27.6% no vs 12.4% yes, P<.05), among those who did not see symptomatic patients (15.6% no vs 6.5% yes, P<.001), and among those who planned to close their practices in the next 5 years (28.9% yes vs 13.9% no, P<.01).Conclusion Most family physicians in Toronto were open to in-person care in January 2021, but almost one-fifth were considering closing their practices in the next 5 years. Policy makers need to prepare for a growing family physician shortage and better understand factors that support recruitment and retention.