Lindsay Hedden, PhD

Please describe your most important contribution(s) to primary care research

My past and current work has involved exploring the drivers of and solutions to the primary care access crisis with a particular focus on communities experiencing marginalization. I have also worked to identify and address gaps in health system data use and data infrastructure, and has studied the impact of those gaps on primary care accessibility and workforce planning. I have explored, using physician billings, why the availability of community-based primary care has declined, despite substantial increases in the number of primary care physicians per capita. My other current work addresses the rapid shift to the use of virtual care, driven by the COVID-19 pandemic; measuring current and predicting future health system capacity and demand; and examining the effects of the increasing corporatization and privatization of primary care on equity, accessibility, and quality of care. Her work is grounded in partnerships with the BC Ministry of Health, regional health authorities, health care professionals and patients.

Please describe your current work or upcoming research projects related to primary care

My work seeks to inform the development of learning health systems with a particular focus on primary care. Current research covers three related areas:

• The increasing role of virtual care in the context of primary care, including implications for costs, service volumes (based on the degree to which virtual care duplicates or is a substitute for in-office visits), accessibility and continuity of care.
• The extent and effects of the increasing corporatization and privatization of Canada’s health care system primary care on equity, accessibility, and quality of care.
• Interdisciplinary team-based models of primary care practice and planning.

What are the key messages from your primary care research to share with other stakeholders (e.g. clinicians, policymakers, patients)?

• Our understanding of primary care supply and access is hampered by missing data at the level of the team or clinic. As we move towards more team-based models of care, this data gap will become an even larger challenge.
• More and more primary care physicians are looking to work in a supported team-based model where they are not responsible for running a small business. The lack of availability of this model in BC’s current system is driving physicians away from community based primary care.