Rural providers will have extra support when a new Real-Time Virtual Support (RTVS) critical care and internal medicine pathway is launched on October 15, 2024.

The Rural Outreach in Critical Care and Internal Medicine (ROCCi) pathway complements the existing Emergency (RUDi), Maternity (MaBAL), Pediatrics (CHARLiE) and Virtual ER (VERRa) RTVS pathways.

An experienced team of specialist BC physicians has been recruited, and the program is set to be launched on October 15. Physicians will be available via Zoom or telephone from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day of the week.  It is hoped that ROCCi will eventually become a 24/7 pathway.

ROCCi lead Dr. Scot Mountain explained that his aim was to make sure that rural healthcare providers felt supported by the new pathway. “Our group of intensivists and internists are all either based in rural communities or have experience working with rural providers, so they understand the rural experience,” he said. “We want to make sure that the rural clinicians who call will hear from a kind, compassionate and culturally safe physician who will help them during a stressful time.”

Support for rural providers

ROCCi support will include:

• help with assessment and stabilization of critically ill patients;
• providing internal medicine assessments;
• helping with procedures that are less familiar;
• offering a second set of eyes;
• helping to navigate the healthcare system, including patient transfers;
• providing collaborative support;
• addressing other situations as needed by rural providers

RTVS peer pathways have become increasingly busy, especially the Rural Urgent Doctor in-aid (RUDi) pathway, which received more than 6,000 calls for both urgent and non-urgent care in the first quarter of this year. It is hoped that ROCCi will work closely with RUDi to best support rural providers in delivering appropriate care for their patients.

Visit the ROCCi page for more information.

Questions can be directed to [email protected].