The reality of virtual care: Implications for cancer care beyond the pandemic

There has been longstanding interest in virtual care in oncology, but outdated reimbursement structures and a paradoxical lack of agility within electronic systems limited widespread adoption. Through the example of the Province of Ontario, Canada and the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, we describe how a collective sense of action from COVID-19, a system of distributed leadership and decision-making, and the use of a Service Design process to map the ambulatory encounter onto a digital workflow were critical enablers of a large-scale virtual transition. Rigorous evaluation of virtual care models will be essential to maintain integration of virtual care post-pandemic.