This COVID-era innovation ‘becoming a standard option’ for Manitoba

This week, the Manitoba government announced it is expanding its Virtual Medicine Ward program within multiple hospitals in Winnipeg. The program aims to allow more patients to be monitored from home in situations where they might otherwise occupy an acute care bed.“Our job is to make sure every Manitoban receives the right care, in the right place, at the right time,” said Health, Seniors and Long-Term Care Minister Uzoma Asagwara, in a press release. “The Virtual Medicine Ward is an innovative model based on the clinical principle that, for some patients, being at home means a faster and more fulsome recovery than being in hospital. Continuing its expansion means the appropriate patients can recover at home while our hospitals focus on higher-acuity care. This is a practical step that improves patient flow, improves patient outcomes and eases pressure on emergency departments.”Currently, the program can support 30 patients at a time and has been in a “phased rollout” since September. In that time, the province says it has freed up “more than 90 hospital bed days.” Patients typically stay within the program for four to nine days with only a “small number” needing to go back to a hospital setting, according to the minister.The patients eligible for the program include those with “mild to moderate illness including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pneumonia, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza and COVID-19,” the release noted. “These are patients who would otherwise require admission but are clinically stable enough to recover safely at home with daily monitoring.”Patients in the program get virtual check-ins daily from doctors and nurses. The program also allows those professionals to monitory vital signs. Through it, patients can also receive IV therapy and home oxygen. The program has been “commonly” used for patients who are starting a new medication that required them to be monitored or who are on antibiotics intravenously, but only for a short period. The program also takes advantage of Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service’s emergency paramedics should patients need in-person assessment or if their condition escalates.Important for physicians to know, the program takes referrals from internal medicine units, urgent care centres and emergency departments.

This COVID-era innovation ‘becoming a standard option’ for Manitoba

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