A Model to Implement Standardized Virtual Care for Low Back Pain Amongst a Large Network of Providers in Urban and Rural Settings

Overview

Journal J Prim Care Community Health

Publisher Sage Publications

Specialty Health Services

Date 2022 Oct 27

PMID 36300425

Authors

Marcia Rebecca Correale

Leslie Jayne Soever

Yoga Raja Rampersaud

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual care (VC) was not routinely offered for assessment of low back pain (LBP), a highly prevalent, disabling condition. COVID-19 related healthcare closures resulted in a rapid backlog of patients referred to a provincial interprofessional LBP program. Without management, these patients were at high risk of experiencing untoward outcomes. Virtual care became a logical option. However, many clinicians lacked experience and confidence with LBP virtual care (LBP-VC); and either were unfamiliar with, or did not have access to, requisite technology. Multi-stakeholder engagement was utilized to understand barriers, identify enablers, and ultimately promote VC for LBP. As a result of the multi-stakeholder engagement, the concept of a toolkit for LBP-VC, including clinical resources and guidelines, emerged. The toolkit contains preparatory steps for VC and a standardized approach to virtual LBP assessment. Key steps in the toolkit have potential applicability to other musculoskeletal populations.

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