# Evaluation study of effect of virtual care education on healthcare providers’ knowledge, confidence, and satisfaction

## TL;DR

This study shows that an online training module significantly improved healthcare providers' knowledge and confidence in delivering virtual care.

## Contribution

The study introduces and evaluates an asynchronous CPD module to address the lack of formal virtual care education for healthcare providers.

## Key findings

- The module significantly improved learners' confidence and objective knowledge in virtual care delivery.
- Participants reported high satisfaction with the module's content and interactive features.
- Qualitative feedback suggested a need for more case-based learning components.

## Abstract

Virtual care can increase access to healthcare and improve provider efficiency; however, many healthcare providers lack formal education in virtual care delivery, including skills in virtual communication, physical examination adaptations, confidentiality, and billing procedures. This training gap can result in reduced confidence and suboptimal patient care. To address this, an asynchronous continuing professional development (CPD) module was developed. The objective of this study was to evaluate the module’s efficacy regarding satisfaction and changes in knowledge and confidence.

The module covered key topics such as virtual visit etiquette, technology troubleshooting, adapted physical examinations, documentation, and remuneration processes. Interactive features included embedded videos, knowledge-check quizzes, and reflective questions. A single-group pre-post quasi-experimental design was used to evaluate its impact. Data were collected via electronic surveys administered at three time points (before, during, and post-module). Surveys included multiple choice questions assessing objective knowledge, and Likert-scale questions assessing confidence levels in virtual care delivery. Open-ended short answer questions captured qualitative feedback. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and paired t-tests or Wilcoxon signed-rank tests where appropriate. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically to identify learner-reported strengths and areas for improvement.

A total of nine to 22 learners responded at each time point. Respondents were heterogeneous, with most identifying as male (66.7%), general practitioners (55.6%), practicing in hospital settings (55.6%), and in communities of 2,000 to 10,000 people (55.6%). Learners reported high satisfaction with the module’s content relevance, navigation, and interactive components, but requested more interactive components (e.g., case-based learning). Statistically significant improvements were observed in confidence levels (n = 20–21; p < 0.001 to 0.009) and objective knowledge scores (n = 20–22; p = 0.046).

This evaluation study demonstrated that the asynchronous virtual care module had a statistically significant impact on objective knowledge and confidence, in addition to having positive satisfaction ratings. Limitations include the small sample size and lack of long-term follow-up to assess sustained practice change. However, these findings support the incorporation of asynchronous, virtual modules into CPD curricula to enhance provider competencies in virtual care delivery. Future directions include integrating additional case-based and specialty-specific content, as well as exploring the module’s scalability for other health professions to promote interprofessional virtual care training.