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Background: Virtual care quickly became of crucial importance to health systems around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the potential of virtual care to enhance access for some communities, the scale and pace at which services were virtualized did not leave many organizations with sufficient time and resources to ensure optimal and equitable delivery of care for everyone. The objective of this paper is to outline the experiences of health care organizations rapidly implementing virtual care during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and examine whether and how health equity was considered. Methods: We used an exploratory, multiple case study approach involving four health and social service organizations providing virtual care services to structurally marginalized communities in the province of Ontario, Canada. We conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with providers, managers, and patients to understand the challenges experienced by organizations and the strategies put in place to support health equity during the rapid virtualization of care. Thirty-eight interviews were thematically analyzed using rapid analytic techniques. Results: Organizations experienced challenges related to infrastructure availability, digital health literacy, culturally appropriate approaches, capacity for health equity, and virtual care suitability. Strategies to support health equity included the provision of blended models of care, creation of volunteer and staff support teams, participation in community engagement and outreach, and securement of infrastructure for clients. We put our findings into the context of an existing framework conceptualizing access to health care and expand on what this means for equitable access to virtual care for structurally marginalized communities. Conclusion: This paper highlights the need to pay greater attention to the role of health equity in virtual care delivery and situate that conversation around existing inequitable structures in the health care system that are perpetuated when delivering care virtually. An equitable and sustainable approach to virtual care delivery will require applying an intersectionality lens on the strategies and solutions needed to address existing inequities in the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Market-driven health care reforms and development strategies continue to drive the privatization of health care services across the world. When these measures are implemented, large disparities emerge and are maintained. Using a modified version of the access to care framework developed by Penchansky and Thomas, this paper examines the manifestations of inequity between private for-profit and public emergency care in the Greater Cairo Region and Asyut, Egypt. In-depth interviews with physicians working in both sectors reveals stark disparities in access between these two health care sectors in Egypt. Access issues identified include unaffordable care in the private sector, unavailable medical supplies and overcrowding in public hospitals, as well as a salary gap that drives health care workers from public to private practice, creating staffing shortages in public hospitals. The manifestations of these inequities are often severe, usually tangible, and according to health care providers, embodied in the experiences of service users. • Examines access to health care in and private emergency care in Egypt. • Expands Penchansky and Thomas access to care framework. • Reveals medical shortages, health system overcrowding and pay disparities drive health inequity. • Health system inequity manifest in severe and tangible effects embodied in user experiences. • Inequities in the contextual circumstances and health system performance should be addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The COVID‐19 pandemic highlighted disparities in healthcare access and outcomes, particularly among individuals with chronic conditions. A positive outcome of the pandemic was an increased use of telehealth and the creation of innovative models of care. In many organizations, nurses became the leaders for these new models. Before this change, pediatric medicine had far fewer telehealth models than adult medicine due to limited Medicaid reimbursement and equipment that was not designed with children in mind. This article describes a new model of care for children with diabetes. We will review how a nurse‐led initiative with the incorporation of telehealth modalities can improve access and outcomes while reducing cost. Successful models of care will be reviewed, as well as programmatic planning, financial implications, and regulatory considerations. Conclusions: It is no longer necessary for families living in rural communities to drive long distances, missing school and work, to attend the frequent appointments needed for optimal management of pediatric diabetes. Telemedicine can bridge gaps in access to specialty care, and is feasible, reimbursable, and well‐accepted by families and providers. Practice Implications: Nurses in both primary care and pediatric specialty offices can initiate and support innovative telehealth models of care, such as this proposal. To win the backing of practice leadership, the availability of cost‐effective videoconferencing equipment and software, improvements in telehealth reimbursement prompted by the pandemic, and enhanced patient and parent satisfaction and outcomes should be emphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]