Building a Hybrid Future: Health-care Professionals' Perspectives on Virtual Pediatric Diabetes Care in British
Aslı E Özer1, Sarah Morehart1, Mws Leung2
1BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Insights
Pediatric healthcare professionals find virtual care for type 1 diabetes offers flexibility but poses challenges like rapport loss and technology access issues. It’s a valuable supplement, not a replacement, for in-person care.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Endocrinology
- Digital Health
- Healthcare Professional Experience
Background:
- COVID-19 accelerated virtual care in pediatric type 1 diabetes (T1D).
- Limited understanding of healthcare professionals' (HCPs) perspectives on virtual T1D care.
- Exploration of HCP experiences with virtual care in British Columbia (BC).
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore pediatric healthcare professionals' experiences with virtual care in type 1 diabetes.
- To identify how HCPs navigate and are impacted by virtual diabetes care.
- To understand the benefits and challenges of virtual care from the HCP perspective.
Main Methods:
- Purposive recruitment of HCPs across British Columbia.
- Semi-structured interviews with 32 pediatric HCPs (September 2023-September 2024).
- Inductive thematic analysis informed by the BC Health Quality Matrix.
Main Results:
- HCPs valued virtual visits for flexibility, safety, accessibility, and efficiency.
- Challenges identified include loss of rapport, inability to perform physical assessments, and technology access inequities.
- Virtual care had complex impacts on HCP well-being, with both benefits and challenges reported.
Conclusions:
- Pediatric HCPs perceive virtual care as beneficial yet challenging for type 1 diabetes management.
- Virtual care is viewed as a valuable supplement, not a replacement, for in-person visits.
- Addressing care gaps and implementing informed strategies are crucial for sustainable virtual diabetes care and system integration.
Objectives:
Virtual care adoption in pediatric type 1 diabetes (T1D) accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet little is known about the perspectives of pediatric health-care professionals (HCPs). To identify how HCPs navigate and are impacted by pediatric diabetes virtual care, we explored their experiences with virtual care in British Columbia (BC).
Methods:
The study team purposively recruited HCPs from across the province. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 32 pediatric HCPs across BC (September 2023 to September 2024). Data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis informed by the BC Health Quality Matrix.
Results:
HCPs valued virtual visits for flexibility, safety, accessibility, and efficiency. However, challenges included rapport loss, inability to perform physical assessments, and concerns related to inequities in technology access. Virtual care impacted HCPs' well-being in complex ways, with some reporting benefits but others facing challenges.
Conclusions:
Pediatric HCPs view virtual care as both beneficial and challenging, recognizing it as a valuable supplement, not a replacement, for in-person visits. As our understanding of these tensions deepens, addressing care gaps and implementing informed strategies will be essential for sustainable, high-quality virtual diabetes care and broader system integration.
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