are very few acceptable medical exemptions to the |
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COVID-19 vaccination . |
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Many Ontario physicians reached out to us after we |
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released these guidelines , stating how grateful they |
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were to have clear-cut guidance from their regulator |
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when having conversations with vaccine-hesitant |
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patients . |
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Social Media Consultation |
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The timing could not have been more perfect : in |
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2021 , with public health misinformation growing |
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online , we were due to review our guidance on |
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Ontario physicians ’ use of social media , first released as a position statement back in 2013 . We decided to use this review period to see if setting specific expectations in policy was the right regulatory approach .
Undoubtedly , social media presents important opportunities for physicians to enhance patient care , medical education , and advocacy , among other things . However , the use of highly accessible , informal , and fast-paced social media platforms presents unique risks and challenges for physicians to navigate and raises questions about how
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physicians can uphold their professional obligations when engaging online .
We invited our many stakeholders – including physicians , patients , government officials , other health-care professionals , and the public – to participate in our public consultation . Its online discussion board received more than 100 comments and an online survey garnered 900 + responses . Much of this feedback helped us clarify language , strengthen expectations , and make other improvements to the draft policy .
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Virtual Care Consultation
Speaking of policies with a particular relevance to the pandemic , we also launched a public consultation in Fall 2021 for our new draft Virtual Care policy , an update to our existing Telemedicine policy . During these extremely uncertain times , virtual care has played an important role in improving access to care and maintaining a connection between patients and their doctor . But , as our draft policy pointed out , not all conditions can be treated virtually and not everyone has equal access to or is comfortable using technology .
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Photo : iStockphoto . com |
31 CPSO ANNUAL REPORT 2021 |