How Has COVID-19 Changed the Way We Do Virtual Care? A Scoping Review Protocol

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic created worldwide interest and use of virtual care to support public health measures and reduce the spread of infection. While some forms of virtual care have been used prior to COVID-19 such as telemedicine, little is known about other virtual modalities such as video conferencing, wearables and other digital technologies. The COVID-19 pandemic has presented an opportunity to question the efficacy and safety of virtual care, especially in terms of patient outcomes among those self-isolating. The purpose of this scoping review is to examine the safety of virtual care among active COVID-19 patients in the community and examine the types and dose of virtual care. Finally, this review will examine what patient outcomes are identified from interventions delivered virtually to treat COVID-19. We followed a systematic process guided by the PRISMA checklist for scoping reviews with a comprehensive search strategy across four bibliographic databases and handsearching reference lists. We undertook a blinded, two-stage screening process with eligibility criteria. All citations and screening were managed using the DistillerSR software. Data were extracted using a data extraction tool developed for this project. The conclusions from this review will offer greater understanding for how virtual care can be used among community-based COVID-19 patients.