4.5% medical cannabis.
The same survey found that benefits providers saw a surge in interest from plan sponsors when it comes to virtual/online health care in 2020, with almost all,
95.4%, being either significantly or somewhat interested. Most plan sponsors were also significantly, or somewhat, interested In pharmacy services at
86.4%, pharmacogenetics at
83.3%, followed by health coaching and navigation at
77.3%. While the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has spurred interest in online/virtual health care, there’s significantly less interest in medical cannabis as benefits providers said more than half,
59.1%, of plan sponsors have little, or no, interest in this budding benefits offering.
The report Affleck co-authored, released in February 2020 right before the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus to be a global pandemic on March 11, 2020, said there was still a “long way to go” to provide quality publicly-insured virtual care across Canada —despite the technology being around for decades and an “explosion” of interest in pursuing digital health strategies, driven by consumer demand and the challenge of timely and convenient access to health care.