Description
Digital health strategies have the potential to empower patients and transform healthcare services, but it is not clear how these technologies should be regulated and endorsed within our healthcare system. Dr. Onil Bhattacharyya, Frigon-Blau Chair in Family Medicine Research, works closely with policy makers and system partners to evaluate new virtual care models that address system needs and are poised to scale, particularly for patients with complex needs. His research focuses on implementing new virtual care models within a particular clinical context and modifying them until he finds a balance between benefits and barriers for both patients and providers. Addressing factors such as the right features, which clinical model it supports, who is likely to benefit and what types of benefits can be expected help to improve a tool’s successful implementation. Currently, Dr. Bhattacharyya’s research is leading evaluations of virtual visits in primary care, remote monitoring in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, care coordination for frail elderly people in rural areas and eye screening for diabetes using digital cameras in primary care to improve health outcomes for patients with complex needs.
