{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,30]],"date-time":"2026-06-30T18:46:54Z","timestamp":1782845214256,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":24,"publisher":"JMIR Publications Inc.","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JMIRx Med"],"abstract":"Abstract<\/jats:title>\n \n Background<\/jats:title>\n Long COVID (post-COVID-19 condition) continues to challenge primary care. To support family physicians in British Columbia, the general internal medicine (GIM) COVID-19 Rapid Access to Consultative Expertise (RACE) line was launched in August 2020 to provide real-time specialist advice.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Objective<\/jats:title>\n This quality improvement study aimed to evaluate the implementation and utilization of the GIM-COVID-19 Long-Term Sequelae RACE line in British Columbia. Specifically, it sought to characterize the demographics of patients involved in RACE consultations, identify the most common themes and clinical queries presented by primary care providers, and assess how usage patterns evolved over time during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Methods<\/jats:title>\n We conducted a retrospective descriptive analysis of 149 RACE line call summaries between August 2020 and June 2021. Six calls were excluded due to insufficient information, such as incomplete documentation or absence of a clear COVID-19\u2013related question. Because the original extraction notes are no longer available, further details about these calls cannot be provided, leaving 143 eligible calls. Data extracted included patient age, sex, geographical location, symptom type, and timing of symptom onset post\u2013COVID-19 infection. Calls were categorized by symptom duration (acute: <2 wk, subacute: 2\u201012 wk, chronic: >12 wk), thematic content (respiratory, fatigue, neurological, etc), and query type (symptom management, return-to-work, vaccination, etc). Data were coded independently by two reviewers using a standardized spreadsheet and predefined codebook. Discrepancies were resolved through discussion. Descriptive statistics summarized the findings.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results<\/jats:title>\n Many calls involved female patients (91\/143, 64%), with the most common age group being 40\u201049 years (32\/113, 28%). Most calls came from Greater Vancouver (35\/83, 42%) and the Fraser Valley (29\/83, 35%). Subacute symptoms (52\/149, 35%) and vaccination-related concerns (29\/149, 19%) were the most common inquiry types. Symptom-related inquiries accounted for 92 of 143 calls (64%), with 253 symptoms documented overall. Respiratory symptoms were most common (100\/253, 40%), especially shortness of breath (35 calls), cough (26), and fatigue (23). Call volumes peaked from January to June 2021, coinciding with the provincial vaccine rollout.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n The GIM-COVID-19 Long-Term Sequelae RACE line served as a critical early support system for primary care providers as the long COVID landscape evolved. This quality improvement study emphasizes the value of rapid access and specialist-informed consultation tools during emerging public health challenges. The trends ascertained may inform future health system responses, particularly when designing more scalable, interdisciplinary models to support primary care in managing complex chronic conditions.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.2196\/57021","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,29]],"date-time":"2025-10-29T16:15:08Z","timestamp":1761754508000},"page":"e57021-e57021","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Use of a Specialist Telephone Consultation Line for Long COVID in Primary Care in British Columbia: Retrospective Descriptive Quality Improvement Study"],"prefix":"10.2196","volume":"7","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-2543-0352","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Saniya","family":"Kaushal","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-8487-840X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jastinder","family":"Bhandal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6418-4676","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Peter","family":"Birks","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-2704-0669","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jesse","family":"Greiner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2438-8401","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Adeera","family":"Levin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-0885-4014","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Michelle","family":"Malbeuf","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-8018-6062","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zachary","family":"Schwartz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1010","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"R1","unstructured":"Rapid access to consultative expertise: an innovative model of shared care. RACE. Jan 6, 2022. URL: http:\/\/www.raceconnect.ca\/about-race\/what-is-race\/ [Accessed 24-07-2025]"},{"key":"R2","unstructured":"Naming the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the virus that causes it. World Health Organization. May 12, 2022. URL: https:\/\/www.who.int\/emergencies\/diseases\/novel-coronavirus-2019\/technical-guidance\/naming-the-coronavirus-disease-(covid-2019)-and-the-virus-that-causes-it [Accessed 24-07-2025]"},{"key":"R3","unstructured":"A clinical case definition of post COVID-19 condition by a Delphi consensus, 6 October 2021. World Health Organization. Oct 6, 2021. URL: https:\/\/www.who.int\/publications\/i\/item\/WHO-2019-nCoV-Post_COVID-19_condition-Clinical_case_definition-2021.1 [Accessed 24-07-2025]"},{"key":"R4","unstructured":"Ritchie H Mathieu E Rod\u00e9s-Guirao L Appel C Giattino C Ortiz-Ospina E et al. Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). Our World in Data. Oxford: Global Change Data Lab; May 12, 2022. URL: https:\/\/ourworldindata.org\/coronavirus [Accessed 24-07-2025]"},{"key":"R5","unstructured":"BC COVID-19 data. BC Centre for Disease Control. May 12, 2022. URL: http:\/\/www.bccdc.ca\/health-info\/diseases-conditions\/covid-19\/data [Accessed 24-07-2025]"},{"key":"R6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fmicb.2021.698169","article-title":"Long COVID or post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC): an overview of biological factors that may contribute to persistent symptoms","volume":"12","author":"Proal","journal-title":"Front Microbiol"},{"issue":"2","key":"R7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2022-065284","article-title":"Global prevalence of post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) or long COVID: a meta-analysis and systematic review","volume":"13","journal-title":"BMJ Open"},{"key":"R8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2196\/49841","article-title":"Defining the subtypes of long COVID and risk factors for prolonged disease: population-based case-crossover study","volume":"10","author":"Resendez","journal-title":"JMIR Public Health Surveill"},{"key":"R9","unstructured":"Long COVID signs and symptoms. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. URL: https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/covid\/long-term-effects\/long-covid-signs-symptoms.html [Accessed 24-07-2025]"},{"issue":"8","key":"R10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2196\/37668","article-title":"Differences in clinical presentation with long COVID after community and hospital infection and associations with all-cause mortality: English Sentinel Network Database Study","volume":"8","author":"Meza-Torres","journal-title":"JMIR Public Health Surveill"},{"issue":"1","key":"R11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1473","DOI":"10.1080\/07853890.2022.2076901","article-title":"Pathophysiology and mechanism of long COVID: a comprehensive review","volume":"54","author":"Castanares-Zapatero","journal-title":"Ann Med"},{"key":"R12","unstructured":"NIH launches long COVID clinical trials through RECOVER initiative, opening enrollment. National Institutes of Health. Jul 31, 2023. URL: https:\/\/www.nih.gov\/news-events\/news-releases\/nih-launches-long-covid-clinical-trials-through-recover-initiative-opening-enrollment [Accessed 24-07-2025]"},{"key":"R13","unstructured":"Reviewing RECOVER\u2019s impact in 2024. RECOVER COVID initiative. URL: https:\/\/recovercovid.org\/news\/reviewing-recovers-impact-2024 [Accessed 24-07-2025]"},{"issue":"6","key":"R14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2869","DOI":"10.1007\/s11845-024-03782-7","article-title":"An investigation into general practitioners\u2019 experience with long COVID","volume":"193","author":"Farrell","journal-title":"Ir J Med Sci"},{"key":"R15","unstructured":"About the PC-ICCN. Provincial Health Services Authority. 2025. URL: http:\/\/www.phsa.ca\/our-services\/programs-services\/post-covid-19-care-network\/about [Accessed 24-07-2025]"},{"key":"R16","unstructured":"About RACE. South Island Division of Family Practice. URL: https:\/\/divisionsbc.ca\/south-island\/race\/about-race [Accessed 24-07-2025]"},{"key":"R17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2196\/58582","article-title":"The utilization of electronic consultations (eConsults) to address emerging questions related to long COVID-19 in Ontario, Canada: mixed methods analysis","volume":"12","author":"Singh","journal-title":"JMIR Hum Factors"},{"key":"R18","unstructured":"The NHS plan for improving long COVID services. NHS England. Jul 2023. URL: https:\/\/www.england.nhs.uk\/publication\/the-nhs-plan-for-improving-long-covid-services\/ [Accessed 24-07-2025]"},{"issue":"12","key":"R19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"952","DOI":"10.31128\/AJGP-05-22-6429","article-title":"Post-COVID-19 syndrome\/condition or long COVID: persistent illness after acute SARS CoV-2 infection","volume":"51","author":"Allard","journal-title":"Aust J Gen Pract"},{"key":"R20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/21501327211010994","article-title":"A multidisciplinary NHS COVID-19 service to manage post-COVID-19 syndrome in the community","volume":"12","author":"Parkin","journal-title":"J Prim Care Community Health"},{"issue":"1","key":"R21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s12916-024-03371-6","article-title":"What is quality in long covid care? Lessons from a national quality improvement collaborative and multi-site ethnography","volume":"22","author":"Greenhalgh","journal-title":"BMC Med"},{"issue":"4","key":"R22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"462","DOI":"10.1016\/j.amjmed.2020.12.009","article-title":"The Johns Hopkins Post-Acute COVID-19 Team (PACT): a multidisciplinary, collaborative, ambulatory framework supporting COVID-19 survivors","volume":"134","author":"Brigham","journal-title":"Am J Med"},{"key":"R23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/phrs.2024.1606948","article-title":"Harnessing the benefits of telehealth in long COVID service provision","volume":"45","author":"Whyler","journal-title":"Public Health Rev"},{"key":"R24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2022.975527","article-title":"Characteristics of long-COVID care centers in Italy. A national survey of 124 clinical sites","volume":"10","author":"Floridia","journal-title":"Front Public Health"}],"container-title":["JMIRx Med"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/xmed.jmir.org\/2026\/1\/e57021","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,30]],"date-time":"2026-06-30T17:46:50Z","timestamp":1782841610000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/xmed.jmir.org\/2026\/1\/e57021"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,10]]},"references-count":24,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.2196\/57021","relation":{},"ISSN":["2563-6316"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2563-6316","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,10]]},"article-number":"v7i2e57021"}}