{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,26]],"date-time":"2026-03-26T15:45:56Z","timestamp":1774539956882,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":22,"publisher":"American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)","issue":"9","content-domain":{"domain":["ascopubs.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["JCO Oncology Practice"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,9]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>PURPOSE<\/jats:title><jats:p> This study reports on a mixed methods evaluation conducted within a provincial cancer program in Alberta, Canada. The purpose was to capture key learnings from a rapid virtual care implementation because of the COVID-19 pandemic and to understand the impact on patient and staff experiences. <\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>METHODS<\/jats:title><jats:p> Administrative data were collected for 21,362 patients who had at least one virtual or in-person visit to any provincial cancer center from April 1, 2020, to June 10, 2020. Patient surveys were conducted with 397 randomly selected patients who had received a virtual visit. Surveys were also conducted with 396 Cancer Care Alberta staff. <\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>RESULTS<\/jats:title><jats:p> 14,906 virtual visits took place in this period, and about 40% of weekly visits were virtual. Significant differences were observed in both patient-reported symptom questionnaire completion rates and referrals to supportive care services between patients seen in-person and virtually. Patients receiving active treatments reported significantly lower levels of satisfaction with virtual visits than those seen for follow-up, but overall 90% of patients indicated interest in receiving virtual care in the future. Staff thought virtual visits increased patients' access to care but less than one third (31.5%) felt confident meeting patients' emotional needs and having conversations about disease progression and\/or end of life virtually. <\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>CONCLUSION<\/jats:title><jats:p> The COVID-19 pandemic has driven the rapid implementation of virtual visits for cancer care delivery in health care settings. The findings from this mixed methods evaluation provide a concrete set of considerations for organizations looking to develop a large-scale, enduring virtual care strategy. <\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1200\/op.21.00144","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,5]],"date-time":"2021-08-05T19:59:59Z","timestamp":1628193599000},"page":"e1354-e1361","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1200\/crossmark","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":34,"title":["Virtual Cancer Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Alberta: Evidence From a Mixed Methods Evaluation and Key Learnings"],"prefix":"10.1200","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Linda","family":"Watson","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Applied Research and Patient Experience, Cancer Research and Analytics, Cancer Care Alberta\u2014Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Alberta, Canada"},{"name":"University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5260-2060","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Siwei","family":"Qi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Applied Research and Patient Experience, Cancer Research and Analytics, Cancer Care Alberta\u2014Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Alberta, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Andrea","family":"Delure","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Applied Research and Patient Experience, Cancer Research and Analytics, Cancer Care Alberta\u2014Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Alberta, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Claire","family":"Link","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Applied Research and Patient Experience, Cancer Research and Analytics, Cancer Care Alberta\u2014Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Alberta, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Eclair","family":"Photitai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Applied Research and Patient Experience, Cancer Research and Analytics, Cancer Care Alberta\u2014Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Alberta, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lindsi","family":"Chmielewski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Applied Research and Patient Experience, Cancer Research and Analytics, Cancer Care Alberta\u2014Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Alberta, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"April","family":"Hildebrand","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Applied Research and Patient Experience, Cancer Research and Analytics, Cancer Care Alberta\u2014Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Alberta, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Dean","family":"Ruether","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada"},{"name":"Medical Oncology, Cancer Care Alberta\u2014Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Alberta, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Krista","family":"Rawson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Quality, Safety & Practice Integration, Cancer Care Alberta\u2014Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Alberta, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"233","reference":[{"key":"b1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s00520-020-05513-x"},{"key":"b2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s10916-020-01596-5"},{"key":"b3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/jamia\/ocaa072"},{"key":"b4","volume-title":"Cancer Control Alberta. 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Absolutely\u201d: Alberta Battles Worst Covid Rate in North America, 2021","author":"The Guardian"}],"container-title":["JCO Oncology Practice"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/ascopubs.org\/doi\/pdfdirect\/10.1200\/OP.21.00144","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,29]],"date-time":"2022-05-29T07:09:16Z","timestamp":1653808156000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/ascopubs.org\/doi\/10.1200\/OP.21.00144"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,9]]},"references-count":22,"journal-issue":{"issue":"9","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,9]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1200\/OP.21.00144"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1200\/op.21.00144","relation":{},"ISSN":["2688-1527","2688-1535"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2688-1527","type":"print"},{"value":"2688-1535","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,9]]},"assertion":[{"value":"2021-02-18","order":0,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2021-06-08","order":1,"name":"revised","label":"Revised","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2021-07-15","order":2,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2021-08-05","order":3,"name":"published","label":"Published","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}}]}}