One aspect of medical care that became more and more apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic was the use of virtual care services in Saskatchewan. Here in eh province, there have been a number of options available, with physicians having the option to provide those services to their patients.  

The pandemic saw the province move quickly to support physicians using phone and video conferencing to provide care to patients, while the services have also been used in the past to help make it possible for people in remote and rural communities to connect with a doctor. 

With the evolution of technology has also come the integration of a number of new tools for doctors. This includes the use of mobile apps for patients to be able to connect with a doctor, particularly in situations where they may not be able to physically get in to see a family doctor, or if someone doesn’t have a family doctor.  

One of those mobile apps has been released by Telus and has been in operation in British Columbia since 2019. The service is now available for all residents of Saskatchewan and is one of two providers operating in such a manner in the province. 

The Telus service, called Telus Health MyCare, is based around an app. Patients are able to book appointments, monitor various factors regarding their health, and use a service known as HealthCheck to see what a best next step could be for certain symptoms. 

The service is part of the public health system. This means that those who make an appointment will be able to connect with a doctor in Saskatchewan, and the costs are covered under provincial health.  

“You can have an appointment from home,” explained Chris Engst, the managing Director of Consumer Health with Telus. “You don’t have to travel into a clinic or another area to be able to have a consultation with a doctor.” 

For communities such as Weyburn, where there have been concerns about a lack of doctors at times, it can provide options for those who want to see a physician. 

Engst explained that using a service like this can actually accomplish a lot of the same things that can be done in an actual doctor’s office. 

“Doctors can typically do about 80 percent of what they would do in a clinic, in a virtual setting,” Engst explained. “They can order prescriptions, they can order lab requisitions, they can refer you on to specialists. Many patients, once they use the service, are quite surprised at the breadth that can be covered.” 

Another service that has seen an increase in use over the course of the past two years has been the use of the mental health services available through Telus Health MyCare. 

“We also give patients the ability, if they want, to book an appointment with a counsellor,” Engst added. He noted this makes it easy for people to be able to connect with a counsellor from the comfort of their home. 

In addition to the service available from Telus, the Ministry of Health advised there is one other service like this that is available in the province – Outpost Health. Other providers, such as Maple, may also be operating under varying capacities in Saskatchewan.