Conservative Health Critic calls situation a ‘boondoggle,’ accuses government of passing the buck
The New Brunswick Minister of Health is doubling down on his comments about the lack of prescription data that eVisitNB has provided to his department.
During a news briefing on Wednesday, July 15, Dr. John Dornan said his government was surprised by the sheer volume of requests for prescription renewals, noting that prescription-specific data wasn’t provided to the province from eVisitNB.
eVisitNB took issue with the statement, saying what the minister told reporters was false, and provided data that countered Dr. Dornan’s comments.
In an emailed statement to the River Valley Sun on Thursday, July 16, Dr. Dornan said the prescription-related information the Department of Health received from eVisitNB was not “detailed, reliable data specific to prescription renewals – such as the type and frequency of renewals, and the number of unique individuals using the service and how often.”
eVisitNB CEO Dr. Chatur said he found this comment perplexing.
“We gave them whatever they asked for,” he said in an email.
Dornan also said his department “identified data quality issues with some of the prescription information it received from the previous provider, which limited its ability to accurately understand the demand for renewal services.”
In a previous interview with the River Valley Sun, Dr. Chatur noted that all information provided to the government was through email, and that he and his staff provided all data requested by the department. At no time was Chatur or his staff invited to meet with the minister or anyone in the department to discuss the eVisitNB platform or how it operated.
Government health critic Bill Hogan says he’s disappointed the Holt government continues to deflect blame.
“I question the department pointing the finger at eVisitNB rather than taking responsibility for not doing their due diligence,” he wrote in an email.
The Woodstock-Hartland MLA says the government needs to fix the situation, and quickly.
“New Brunswick citizens and hospital ERs are paying the price for this boondoggle, and it needs to be rectified immediately,” he told the River Valley Sun. “Pharmacists need to be allowed to practice to the full scope of their practice, and citizens need to know how to get their prescriptions refilled in a timely fashion.”
On Wednesday, Dr. Dornan said his department erred by not including pharmacists in its new platform services, which could have helped address some of Virtual Care NB’s prescription-demand issues. He noted this would be rectified in the future.
Dornan said the department is “working daily with the Virtual Care NB provider on data collection and performance monitoring, so we have the information needed to support service improvements and decision-making moving forward.”
The River Valley Sun has sent a request to the department asking what data they asked eVisitNB to provide. The newspaper continues to wait for the government to respond to its request for the number of patients served by the new online medical platform since it began on June 30.
In his statement, Dornan said he was happy with how the new service is working so far.
“I am pleased to see that Virtual Care NB continues to grow its capacity. The service is currently averaging about 50 consultations per day, and that number is trending upward as additional nurse practitioners are onboarded and more appointments become available,” he wrote. “For example, Virtual Care NB provided 95 consultations on Monday of this week and 72 on Tuesday,” he wrote.
These numbers are a far cry from the hundreds of patients served daily by the previous provider, eVisitNB.
Despite the minister’s comments, eVisitNB’s CEO says he’s willing to lend a hand in whatever capacity the province needs.
“Even today, if the minister or premier called me, I’m here to help,” said Dr. Chatur.
