The provincial government says it is expanding virtual health care options. The government says that the Ministry of Health and eHealth Saskatchewan are developing an action plan to enhance virtual services, focusing on security, privacy and user experience.

Billing data suggests from March to December 2020, Saskatchewan patients participated in more than 1.7 million virtual appointments with a physician.

Saskatchewan’s priorities will include improvements or expansion in Videoconferencing; Remote Patient Monitoring; eHealth Saskatchewan’s patient portal, which allows people to view their lab results online; and Auto-dialer, which notifies residents by phone or text within 24 hours of a lab-confirmed negative COVID-19 test result. People who test positive continue to receive a phone call from public health.

In support of this work, Saskatchewan has signed a bilateral agreement with the Government of Canada to expand virtual care services. Under the agreement, Saskatchewan will receive almost $6.5 million for priority initiatives that provide high quality, safe virtual health services and complement in-person care.