Waiting on eVisitNB? Blame viral triple threat

It's not just bricks and mortar health-care facilitiesexperiencing long wait times recently.Peoplelooking to take advantage of eVisitNB are also waiting longer than normal.

The web-based medical service pairs patients with a medical professional for virtual consultations for those with minor ailments.

The goal ofthe platform was to keep patients out of ERs and help to reduce wait times there, but peopleare now complaining of six-hour wait times and cancelled eVisit appointments.

The platform's co-founder, Dr. Hanif Chatur, says the triple threat of RSV, COVID and the seasonal flu is behind the long wait.

"I don't think anybody anticipated that RSV, influenza, COVID-19 would kind of come in as a triple storm," said Chatur.

"It was impossible to predict these three viruses, otherwise I think everybody would have been well prepared to receive [patients]."

Spike in requests

Chatur said eVisitNB saw a 100 per cent increase in patients between September and November with upwards of 1,000 requests a day.

The platform can usually handle between 500-700 virtual appointmentsa day.

He says the platform has increased its staffby 50 per cent and hopes the long wait times will end in the new year.

"We've engaged in a fairly aggressive recruitment campaign and will be increasing our workforce by about 50 per centin the next few weeks," said Chatur.

Chatur said the platform is recruiting medical professionals from outside the province, as the technology means theydon't have to live here to make a difference.

"We go through a process of where they get licensed in New Brunswick and then we train them on the platform, support them, and then they're ready to look after New Brunswickers," said Chatur.

Timing-out

There is also an issue with the technology, as many people havecomplainedthat after waiting upwards of six hours to be seen by a medical professionalthey havebeen timed-out and logged off their account.

Chatur said this was an issue with the system that logged people off after a specific amount of time.

To fixthis, the platform has started only allowinga certainnumber of people to book appointments, and oncethey have been served, more people can then sign up.

He says this has by and large fixed the time-out issue.

"For example, from Dec. 13 to the 16 there was no time out," said Chatur.

"Hopefully the time outs will not be an issue on a go-forward basis."