Real-Time Virtual Support (RTVS) was honoured at the Premier’s Awards in Victoria on November 26.

The Rural Coordination Centre of BC (RCCbc)’s peer pathways for rural providers was among the RTVS pathways named as runners-up in the Innovation category.

RCCbc’s RTVS team, which is made up of physicians and staff from across BC, support rural providers with access to friendly clinical advice via Zoom or telephone.

The work done in partnership with the Ministry of Health has been praised for ensuring people living in rural, remote and First Nations communities have better access to the healthcare they need.

The RTVS program was one of three initiatives named as a finalist in the Innovation category. The Innovation award recognizes groups, teams or organizations in the BC Public Service who have developed and transformed new ideas into tangible initiatives, programs or projects. By applying a user-centric or citizen-centric approach, innovations streamline business processes, leverage technology or pursue creative solutions to fulfill organizational mandates. The 2024 winner was “Nurses Responding to the Toxic Drug Crisis” from the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions.

The other pathways that make up the RTVS program that were honoured in the nomination include the First Nations Virtual Doctor of the Day line and First Nations Virtual Substance Use and Psychiatry Service run by the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA). Northern Health’s Virtual Primary Care Call Centre was also named in the award.

Dr. John Pawlovich, who is RCCbc’s virtual health lead, RTVS physician lead, and Rural Doctors’ UBC Chair in Rural Health, said it was wonderful to be recognized as a finalist.

Dr. Pawlovich attended the event on behalf of RCCbc, along with RCCbc Networks Director Kim Williams. Panmoli Sivananthan and Kelly McQuillen attended for the Ministry of Health, along with Assistant Deputy Ministers Miranda Mason and Jeff Aitken. John Mah and Scott Graham attended on behalf of the FNHA. Dr. Tamara Pacholuk and Dori Pears attended on behalf of Northern Health.

“We have always been interested in the thoughtful integration of technology with the on-the-ground patient care that happens every day,” said Dr. Pawlovich.

“I believe that it’s vitally important that we wrap care around rural communities – particularly our most isolated communities – instead of just expecting people to travel in order to get the care they need.

“We’re really proud of the work we’ve done with our partners to ensure that clinical support is there for rural providers in these edge communities when they need it, and, most importantly, when their patients need it. That’s what RTVS peer supports are about.”

The three 24/7 instant access pathways that make up the RTVS peer supports, RUDi (Emergency), MaBAL (Maternity and Newborn) and CHARLiE (Pediatrics) were recognized. The RCCbc’s Consultation to Conversation service, which facilitates virtual three-way conversations between patients, primary care providers and specialists or specialist services is also named on the award. Although not named on the award, the peer pathway program has recently expanded to also include the ROCCi pathway for Critical Care and Internal Medicine and the VERRa pathway, which continues the RUDi work of providing overnight virtual support for rural hospitals facing staffing challenges.

One of the central tenets of RTVS is that calls for help are answered in a friendly and culturally safe way. The program is led by rural physicians and many of the RTVS peer support physicians are rural physicians themselves and understand the rural context.

This culture has led to a high satisfaction with the service among rural providers.

RTVS peer pathways can also support recruitment and retention, as they provide peace of mind for rural providers who do not have a clinical team around them.

To find out more about RTVS peer pathways, visit the RTVS website.