ArticleJMIR public health and surveillance2022
COVID-19 Assessment and Testing in Rural Communities During the Pandemic: Cross-sectional Analysis.
Article in JMIR public health and surveillance, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Understanding the Impact of COVID-19 on the Utilization of Community Health Services: Evidence from Beijing in China.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Assessing patient experiences with a Virtual Triage and Assessment Centre (VTAC): a mixed-methods study using an online survey and semi-structured interviews in Renfrew County, Ontario.BMC primary care · 2025Article
- Innovative Regional Services and Heterogeneous Communication Channels: Results from the Nationwide German egePan Project for Pandemic Management.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Clinical Characteristics and Patterns of Immune Responses in COVID-19 Patients From a Rural Community Hospital.Cureus · 2024Article
- Identifying Features of a System of Practice to Inform a Contemporary Competency Framework for Paramedics in Canada.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Rural residents' Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice in relation to infection risk during the late stage of an epidemic: a cross-sectional study of COVID-19.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Family physicians' experiences with an innovative, community-based, hybrid model of in- person and virtual care: a mixed-methods study.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- Article
- COVID-19 preparedness and response in rural and remote areas: A scoping review.PLOS global public health · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the need for urgent improvements in access to health care for rural, remote, and underserviced communities. The Renfrew County Virtual Triage and Assessment Centre (VTAC) was designed to provide access to COVID-19 testing and assessment with a family physician. The goal was to protect emergency departments and 911 paramedics while ensuring that nobody was left at home, suffering in silence. Residents were encouraged to call their own family physician for any urgent health needs. If they did not have a family physician or could not access their usual primary care provider, then they could call VTAC. This study reports on the output of a service model offering access to assessment and COVID-19 testing through a blend of virtual and in-person care options by a multidisciplinary team.
objectiveThe purpose of this study was to assess the ability of VTAC to provide access to COVID-19 assessment and testing across rural, remote, and underserviced communities.
methodsWe conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the data derived from the cases handled by VTAC between March 27, 2020 (launch day), and September 30, 2020.
resultsResidents from all 19 census subdivisions and municipalities of Renfrew County accessed VTAC. A total of 10,086 family physician assessments were completed (average 64 per day). Of these, 8535 (84.6%) assessments were to unique patient users. Thirty physicians provided care. Using digital equipment setup in the patients' home, 31 patients were monitored remotely. VTAC community paramedics completed 14,378 COVID-19 tests and 3875 home visits.
conclusionsRenfrew County's experience suggests that there is tremendous synergy between family physicians and community paramedics in providing access to COVID-19 assessment and COVID-19 testing. The blended model of virtual and in-person care is well suited to provide improved access to other aspects of health care post pandemic, particularly for patients without a family physician.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.