OnCall Health delivers virtual rehab program

TORONTO – OnCall Health’s virtual care platform is being used by Trafalgar Addiction Treatment Centres to offer virtual settings for addiction and mental health treatment.

Since the onset of the pandemic, over 60 people have participated in Trafalgar’s Intensive Virtual Addiction Rehab Program from the safety of their homes. Graduates and alumni of Trafalgar’s Residential and Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOP) can also access aftercare services online.

Founded in 2013, Trafalgar Addiction Treatment Centers is a CARF-accredited private provider of addiction and mental health treatment located in midtown Toronto with offices servicing the East and West ends of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). While Trafalgar’s IOP for alcohol and drug rehabilitation is typically run from its Toronto-based counselling centre, the organization moved to a secure online model amid the COVID-19 pandemic to support patient recovery from the safety of their homes.

In March 2020, OnCall Health’s simple and secure virtual care platform was quickly deployed and Trafalgar was able to launch its Virtual Rehab Program after it had to close its doors to outpatient services due to the pandemic. In June, Trafalgar also opened up its Virtual Rehab program to first responders (active or retired) without access to mental health and addiction support at no charge, through the Trafalgar Local Heroes Program.

“This virtual realm has really expanded the opportunity of making mental health and addiction treatment more accessible,” says Shane Saltzman (pictured), CEO of Trafalgar Addiction Centres. “OnCall Health’s platform allows us to provide essential treatment, safely and securely. We can manage full group sizes, scale up and down quickly, and really bring our program to the masses. The group program has worked so well that even online, participants are connecting and bonding with one another in the same way as they would in a physical setting. Everyone has adapted and adjusted, and the feedback has been incredibly positive.”

Trafalgar’s four-week Virtual Rehab Program provides patients with 20 hours a week of individual group and family therapy. Online treatment delivery has also enabled Trafalgar to expand its services nationally, with patients from across Canada participating in the three Virtual Rehab Program groups that it offers each day – with six to 10 people in each group. (Prior to the pandemic, Trafalgar was only able to offer one rehab program.) Trafalgar has also grown its team of outpatient program therapists from four full time staff to 12 to support the growing demand for its services.

According to Saltzman, “Word is getting out that what we are offering is a more preventative, affordable, and accessible option for addiction and mental health treatment. Because of this, once the pandemic is over we will ensure our virtual program is offered as an option to individuals before they have to consider a residential setting.”

OnCall Health’s virtual care platform is trusted by thousands of primary care, mental health, and paramedical service providers and healthcare organizations throughout North America to improve and expand their services. It has everything healthcare providers and organizations need to start incorporating virtual care into their operations including online booking for patients, 24/7 tech support, custom branded apps, and analytics.

Privacy is also protected with end-to-end encrypted, PHIPA and PIPEDA compliance. In addition, healthcare providers can see more patients faster by automating administrative work like scheduling, appointment reminders, consent forms, and payment processing.

“In 2020 we have been amazed by the rate at which organizations like Trafalgar are embracing virtual care as a critical channel to engage with their patients and launch new services,” said Nicholas Chepesiuk, CEO of OnCall Health. “Mental health and addiction treatment services are an ideal fit for virtual care because patients can effectively access treatment services from the privacy and comfort of home.”

In May 2020, OnCall Health saw the number of its active users grow by 400 per cent as compared to May 2019. From April to May 2020, the average, weekly number of appointments booked online by patients was seven times higher than those booked online during the same timeframe in 2019.

“While the pandemic provided the impetus to get many healthcare organizations onboard with virtual care, adoption will go far beyond COVID-19 as more healthcare brands and enterprises are planning to incorporate virtual care into their permanent operations,” added Chepesiuk.

About OnCall Health
Founded in 2016, OnCall Health is a North American market leader in simple, secure virtual care software, powering over one million virtual healthcare appointments each year. Hundreds of leading healthcare brands and enterprises trust OnCall Health to expand and improve access to their services. OnCall Health’s virtual care platform enables healthcare organizations to launch, monetize, and scale their own branded virtual care programs, as well as to track utilization and outcomes in a live dashboard. For more information, visit oncallhealth.ca.