A new Ontario Health guide for primary care provides an easy-to-use algorithm on how to assess and manage patients experiencing persistent symptoms following COVID-19, including guidance on referring patients to rehabilitative care.

The RCA worked closely with Ontario Health on the brief guide, providing input on when and how primary care should assess a patient for referral to an interprofessional rehabilitation team.

The guide, which focuses on patients experiencing COVID-19 symptoms beyond four weeks, also provides links to assessment tools and resources. These links include the RCA’s provincial portal for rehabilitative care, rehabcareontario.ca, which features a comprehensive listing of COVID-specific outpatient rehab programs available across the province.

The RCA is also developing a standardized intake and communication pathway for use by COVID-19 outpatient rehab programs to ensure clear and timely communication with primary care. The pathway will include a standardized letter template that outpatient programs can use to respond to primary care referrals.

The new Ontario Health guide will be shared with primary care across the province and imbedded in EMR platforms. The RCA will be distributing the guide and the intake and communication pathway document to all COVID-19 outpatient rehab programs.

For more information, please contact Sue Balogh, Project Manager.