Impact of COVID-19 on Primary Care: Addressing Health Concerns and Patient Experience of Virtual Care

Introduction:During the height of the pandemic, primary care clinics were shuttered or only seeing urgent cases.Virtual consultations were adopted to ensure patients had their health concerns met.This study sought to explore the primary care experiences of older adult patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically the impact of COVID-19 on the ability of older patients' ability to have their non-COVID-19 health needs addressed, and older patients' specific experiences with virtual care.Methods: Qualitative interviews were conducted over Zoom or telephone and followed an investigator-designed semi-structured interview guide.Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim.Thematic analysis was used to make sense of and interpret the data.Findings: Twenty-nine participants (average age 68 years) participated in the study.Participants indicated that they were able to have their health needs addressed despite COVID-19 impacted how primary care was delivered.Impacts included physicians being more rushed, not taking time with new medical concerns in some cases and creating a sense of fear and doom with the strict protocols in place to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.Virtual care was generally well-received by participants, with some exceptions.Advanced age and difficulties with hearing were two of the main reasons for poor experiences with virtual care. Conclusions:Overall, patients in this Study were able to have their health needs addressed.Tailoring virtual care to either phone or videoconferencing for those who have cognitive or sensory impairments, language barriers, or poor connections (and who many need to see non-verbal cues or read lips) is important.