The role of mentoring and coaching of healthcare professionals for digital technology adoption and implementation: A scoping review.

Objective: Mentoring and coaching practices have supported the career and skill development of healthcare professionals (HCPs); however, their role in digital technology adoption and implementation for HCPs is unknown. The objective of this scoping review was to summarize information on healthcare education programs that have integrated mentoring or coaching as a key component. Methods: The search strategy and keyword searches were developed by the project team and a research librarian. A two-stage screening process consisting of a title/abstract scan and a full-text review was conducted by two independent reviewers to determine study eligibility. Articles were included if they: (1) discussed the mentoring and/or coaching of HCPs on digital technology, including artificial intelligence, (2) described a population of HCPs at any stage of their career, and (3) were published in English. Results: A total of 9473 unique citations were screened, identifying 19 eligible articles. 11 articles described mentoring and/or coaching programs for digital technology adoption, while eigth described mentoring and/or coaching for digital technology implementation. Program participants represented a diverse range of industries (i.e., clinical, academic, education, business, and information technology). Digital technologies taught within programs included electronic health records (EHRs), ultrasound imaging, digital health informatics, and computer skills. Conclusions: This review provided a summary of the role of mentoring and/or coaching practices within digital technology education for HCPs. Future training initiatives for HCPs should consider appropriate resources, program design, mentor-learner relationship, security concerns and setting clear expectations for program participants. Future research could explore mentor/coach characteristics that would facilitate successful skill transfer.

An Exploration of the Pillars of Leadership in Cancer Education.

Leadership plays a key role in cancer education (CE) and the success of its practices. Leaders in CE must effectively use their leadership skills to be able to communicate, collaborate, and educate their team members. There is a lack of formalized and standardized curriculums for institutions in developing leadership programs, including what themes to focus on in CE. In this article, the authors describe key pillars of leadership in CE that have presented themselves throughout their experience and within the literature. A search was conducted using the Ovid MEDLINE® database and articles were reviewed for eligibility. In this review, thirty articles were selected for their relevance to CE. With this literature search and the authors' reflections, four pillars of leadership in CE were identified: (1) leadership development, (2) collaboration, (3) diversity and equity, and (4) implementation. Within these themes, key areas of importance were discussed further, and barriers to CE leadership were identified. By reflecting upon pillars of leadership in CE, this article may be helpful for developing future leadership programs within CE. It is vital that initiatives continue to be held and barriers are addressed to increase leadership effectiveness within CE.

Accelerating AI Innovation in Healthcare Through Mentorship.

The adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Canadian healthcare system falls behind that of other countries. Socio-technological considerations such as organizational readiness and a limited understanding of the technology are a few barriers impeding its adoption. To address this need, this study implemented a five-month AI mentorship program with the primary objective of developing participants' AI toolset. The analysis of our program's effectiveness resulted in recommendations for a successful mentorship and AI development and implementation program. 12 innovators and 11 experts from diverse backgrounds were formally matched and two symposiums were integrated into the program design. 8 interviewed participants revealed positive perceptions of the program underscoring its contribution to their professional development. Recommendations for future programs include: (1) obtaining organizational commitment for each participant; (2) incorporating structural supports throughout the program; and (3) adopting a team-based mentorship approach. The findings of this study offer a foundation rooted in evidence for the formulation of policies necessary to promote the integration of AI in Canada.

Digital Disconnection: A Qualitative Study of Youth and Young Adult Perspectives on Cyberbullying and the Adoption of Auto-Detection or Software Tools.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to understand the needs of youth and young adults, current gaps around safeguarding social media, and factors affecting adoption of data-driven auto-detection or software tools. METHODS: This qualitative study is the first step of a larger initiative that aims to use participatory action research and co-design principles to develop a digital tool that targets cyberbullying. Youth and young adults aged 16-21 years were recruited to participate in semistructured focus groups between March 2020 and November 2021. Thematic analysis was used to develop themes, with a member-checking process to validate the findings. RESULTS: Six focus groups were completed with 39 participants and five themes were generated from the analysis. Participants described the mental health impacts of cyberbullying on young people, the stigma associated with it, and the need for more mental health resources. They felt that additional efforts are needed to improve the school environment, school-based interventions, and training protocols to ensure that youth feel safe reporting cyberbullying. Most participants were open to using a digital solution but raised concerns around the trustworthiness of artificial intelligence and wanted it to be co-designed with young people, integrated across platforms, informed by data-driven decisions, and transparent with users. DISCUSSION: Youth and young adults are accepting of a low-risk digital cyberbullying solution as current interventions are not meeting their needs.

Paving the Way Forward for Evidence-Based Continuing Professional Development.

ABSTRACT: Continuing professional development (CPD) fosters lifelong learning and enables health care providers to keep their knowledge and skills current with rapidly evolving health care practices. Instructional methods promoting critical thinking and decision making contribute to effective CPD interventions. The delivery methods influence the uptake of content and the resulting changes in knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behavior. Educational approaches are needed to ensure that CPD meets the changing needs of health care providers. This article examines the development approach and key recommendations embedded in a CE Educator's toolkit created to evolve CPD practice and foster a learning experience that promotes self-awareness, self-reflection, competency, and behavioral change. The Knowledge-to-Action framework was used in designing the toolkit. The toolkit highlighted three intervention formats: facilitation of small group learning, case-based learning, and reflective learning. Strategies and guidelines to promote active learning principles in CPD activities within different modalities and learning contexts were included. The goal of the toolkit is to assist CPD providers to design educational activities that optimally support health care providers' self-reflection and knowledge translation into their clinical environment and contribute to practice improvement, thus achieving the outcomes of the quintuple aim.

Enhancing the value of digital health tools for mental health help-seeking in Canadian transitional aged youth during the pandemic: Qualitative study.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly exacerbated the mental health challenges of transition-aged youth (TAY) between 17 and 29 years old, it has also led to the rapid adoption of digital tools for mental health help-seeking and treatment. However, to date, there has been limited work focusing on how this shift has impacted perceptions, needs and challenges of this population in using digital tools. The current study aims to understand their perspectives on mental health help-seeking during the pandemic and emerging issues related to digital tools (e.g., digital health equity, inclusivity). A total of 16 TAY were invited from three post-secondary institutions in the Greater Toronto Area. A total of two streams of focus groups were held and participants were invited to share their perceptions, needs and experiences. Five main themes were identified: 1) Helpfulness of a centralized resource encompassing a variety of diverse mental health supports help-seeking; 2) The impact of the shift to online mental health support on the use of informal supports; 3) Digital tool affordability and availability; 4) Importance of inclusivity for digital tools; and 5) Need for additional support for mental health seeking and digital tool navigation. Future work should examine how these needs can be addressed through new and existing digital mental health help-seeking tools for TAY.

Understanding Quality Improvement and Continuing Professional Mentorship: A Needs Assessment Study to Inform the Development of a Community of Practice.

INTRODUCTION: Quality improvement (QI) programming attempts to bridge the gap between patient care and standards of care. Mentorship could be a means through which QI is fostered, developed, and incorporated into continuing professional development (CPD) programs. The current study examined (1) models of implementation for mentorship within the Department of Psychiatry of a large Canadian academic center; (2) mentorship as a potential vehicle for alignment of QI practices and CPD; and (3) needs for the implementation of QI and CPD mentorship programs. METHODS: Qualitative interviews were conducted with 14 individuals associated with the university's Department of Psychiatry. The data were analyzed through thematic analyses with two independent coders using COREQ guidelines. RESULTS: Our results identified uncertainty among the participants regarding the conceptualization of QI and CPD, illustrating difficulties in determining whether mentorship could be used to align these practices. Three major themes were identified in our analyses: sharing of QI work through communities of practices; the need for organizational support; and relational experiences of QI mentoring. DISCUSSION: A greater understanding of QI is necessary before psychiatry departments can implement mentorship to enhance QI practices. However, models of mentorship and needs for mentorship have been made clear and include a good mentorship fit, organizational support, and opportunities for both formal and informal mentorship. Changing organizational culture and providing appropriate training is necessary for enhancing QI.

Performance Data Advocacy for Continuing Professional Development in Health Professions.

ABSTRACT: Efforts to optimize continuing professional development (CPD) are ongoing and include advocacy for the use of clinician performance data. Several educational and quality-based frameworks support the use of performance data to achieve intended improvement outcomes. Although intuitively appealing, the role of performance data for CPD has been uncertain and its utility mainly assumed. In this Scholarly Perspective, the authors briefly review and trace arguments that have led to the conclusion that performance data are essential for CPD. In addition, they summarize and synthesize a recent and ongoing research program exploring the relationship physicians have with performance data. They draw on Collins, Onwuegbuzie, and Johnson's legitimacy model and Dixon-Woods' integrative approach to generate inferences and ways of moving forward. This interpretive approach encourages questioning or raising of assumptions about related concepts and draws on the perspectives (i.e., interpretive work) of the research team to identify the most salient points to guide future work. The authors identify 6 stimuli for future programs of research intended to support broader and better integration of performance data for CPD. Their aims are to contribute to the discourse on data advocacy for CPD by linking conceptual, methodologic, and analytic processes and to stimulate discussion on how to proceed on the issue of performance data for CPD purposes. They hope to move the field from a discussion on the utility of data for CPD to deeper integration of relevant conceptual frameworks.

The Adoption of AI in Mental Health Care-Perspectives From Mental Health Professionals: Qualitative Descriptive Study.

BACKGROUND: Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the mental health care environment. AI tools are increasingly accessed by clients and service users. Mental health professionals must be prepared not only to use AI but also to have conversations about it when delivering care. Despite the potential for AI to enable more efficient and reliable and higher-quality care delivery, there is a persistent gap among mental health professionals in the adoption of AI. OBJECTIVE: A needs assessment was conducted among mental health professionals to (1) understand the learning needs of the workforce and their attitudes toward AI and (2) inform the development of AI education curricula and knowledge translation products. METHODS: A qualitative descriptive approach was taken to explore the needs of mental health professionals regarding their adoption of AI through semistructured interviews. To reach maximum variation sampling, mental health professionals (eg, psychiatrists, mental health nurses, educators, scientists, and social workers) in various settings across Ontario (eg, urban and rural, public and private sector, and clinical and research) were recruited. RESULTS: A total of 20 individuals were recruited. Participants included practitioners (9/20, 45% social workers and 1/20, 5% mental health nurses), educator scientists (5/20, 25% with dual roles as professors/lecturers and researchers), and practitioner scientists (3/20, 15% with dual roles as researchers and psychiatrists and 2/20, 10% with dual roles as researchers and mental health nurses). Four major themes emerged: (1) fostering practice change and building self-efficacy to integrate AI into patient care; (2) promoting system-level change to accelerate the adoption of AI in mental health; (3) addressing the importance of organizational readiness as a catalyst for AI adoption; and (4) ensuring that mental health professionals have the education, knowledge, and skills to harness AI in optimizing patient care. CONCLUSIONS: AI technologies are starting to emerge in mental health care. Although many digital tools, web-based services, and mobile apps are designed using AI algorithms, mental health professionals have generally been slower in the adoption of AI. As indicated by this study's findings, the implications are 3-fold. At the individual level, digital professionals must see the value in digitally compassionate tools that retain a humanistic approach to care. For mental health professionals, resistance toward AI adoption must be acknowledged through educational initiatives to raise awareness about the relevance, practicality, and benefits of AI. At the organizational level, digital professionals and leaders must collaborate on governance and funding structures to promote employee buy-in. At the societal level, digital and mental health professionals should collaborate in the creation of formal AI training programs specific to mental health to address knowledge gaps. This study promotes the design of relevant and sustainable education programs to support the adoption of AI within the mental health care sphere.

Decision making in continuing professional development organisations during a crisis.

INTRODUCTION: Early in COVID-19, continuing professional development (CPD) providers quickly made decisions about program content, design, funding and technology. Although experiences during an earlier pandemic cautioned providers to make disaster plans, CPD was not entirely prepared for this event. We sought to better understand how CPD organisations make decisions about CPD strategy and operations during a crisis. METHODS: This is a descriptive qualitative research study of decision making in two organisations: CPD at the University of Toronto (UofT) and the US-based Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education (SACME). In March 2021, using purposive and snowball sampling, we invited faculty and staff who held leadership positions to participate in semi-structured interviews. The interview focused on the individual's role and organisation, their decision-making process and reflections on how their units had changed because of COVID-19. Transcripts were reviewed, coded and analysed using thematic analysis. We used Mazmanian et al.'s Ecological Framework as a further conceptual tool. RESULTS: We conducted eight interviews from UofT and five from SACME. We identified that decision making during the pandemic occurred over four phases of reactions and impact from COVID-19, including shutdown, pivot, transition and the 'new reality'. The decision-making ability of CPD organisations changed throughout the pandemic, ranging from having little or no independent decision-making ability early on to having considerable control over choosing appropriate pathways forward. Decision making was strongly influenced by the creativity, adaptability and flexibility of the CPD community and the need for social connection. CONCLUSIONS: This adds to literature on the changes CPD organisations faced due to COVID-19, emphasising CPD organisations' adaptability in making decisions. Applying the Ecological Framework further demonstrates the importance of time to decision-making processes and the relational aspect of CPD. To face future crises, CPD will need to embrace creative, flexible and socially connected solutions. Future scholarship could explore an organisation's ability to rapidly adapt to better prepare for future crises.

Transforming the landscape of obesity education - The Canadian obesity education competencies.

Background: With ongoing gaps in obesity education delivery for health professions in Canada and around the world, a transformative shift is needed to address and mitigate weight bias and stigma, and foster evidence-based approaches to obesity assessment and care in the clinical setting. Obesity Canada has created evidence-based obesity competencies for medical education that can guide curriculum development, assessment and evaluation and be applied to health professionals' education programs in Canada and across the world. Methods: The Obesity Canada Education Action Team has seventeen members in health professions education and research along with students and patient experts. Through an iterative group consensus process using four guiding principles, key and enabling obesity competencies were created using the 2015 CanMEDS competency framework as its foundation. These principles included the representation of all CanMEDS Roles throughout the competencies, minimizing duplication with the original CanMEDS competencies, ensuring obesity focused content was informed by the 2020 Adult Obesity Clinical Practice Guidelines and the 2019 US Obesity Medication Education Collaborative Competencies, and emphasizing patient-focused language throughout. Results: A total of thirteen key competencies and thirty-seven enabling competencies make up the Canadian Obesity Education Competencies (COECs). Conclusion: The COECs embed evidence-based approaches to obesity care into one of the most widely used competency-based frameworks in the world, CanMEDS. Crucially, these competencies outline how to address and mitigate the damaging effects of weight bias and stigma in educational and clinical settings. Next steps include the creation of milestones and nested Entrustable Professional Activities, a national report card on obesity education for undergraduate medical education in Canada, and Free Open Access Medication Education content, including podcasts and infographics, for easier adoption into curriculum around the world and across the health professions spectrum.

A scoping review of obesity education interventions for current and prospective medical professionals in Canada.

Background: Obesity is a prevalent chronic disease in Canada. Individuals living with obesity frequently interact with medical professionals who must be prepared to provide evidence-based and person-centred care options. The purpose of this scoping review was to summarize existing educational interventions on obesity in Canada for current and prospective medical professionals and to identify key future directions for practice and research. Methods: A scoping review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for scoping reviews. The search strategy was conducted using Medline (via PubMed), Embase, Eric, CBCA, Proquest Education, and Proquest Theses. The inclusion criteria included delivery of an educational intervention on obesity for current medical professionals, medical undergraduate trainees, or residents administered in Canada. Data were extracted from the included studies to thematically summarize the intervention content, and main outcomes assessed. Future directions for research and practice were identified. Results: Eight studies met the inclusion criteria. The interventions ranged in terms of the mode of delivery, including interactive in-person workshops and seminars, online learning modules, webinars, and videos. The main outcomes assessed were attitudes towards patients living with obesity, self-efficacy for having sensitive obesity-related discussions, skills to assess obesity and provision of management options. All studies reported improvements in the outcomes. Future directions identified were the need to develop standardized obesity competencies for inclusion across medical education programs, further research on effective pedagogical approaches to integrating content into existing curricula and the need for broader awareness and assessment of the quality of obesity education resources. Conclusion: Although there have been few obesity-specific educational interventions for current and prospective medical professionals in Canada, existing evidence shows positive learning outcomes. These findings advocate for continued investment in the development of obesity medical training and educational interventions.

The impact of eHealth on relationships and trust in primary care: a review of reviews.

BACKGROUND: Given the increasing integration of digital health technologies in team-based primary care, this review aimed at understanding the impact of eHealth on patient-provider and provider-provider relationships. METHODS: A review of reviews was conducted on three databases to identify papers published in English from 2008 onwards. The impact of different types of eHealth on relationships and trust and the factors influencing the impact were thematically analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 79 reviews were included. Patient-provider relationships were discussed more frequently as compared to provider-provider relationships. Communication systems like telemedicine were the most discussed type of technology. eHealth was found to have both positive and negative impacts on relationships and/or trust. This impact was influenced by a range of patient-related, provider-related, technology-related, and organizational factors, such as patient sociodemographics, provider communication skills, technology design, and organizational technology implementation, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Recommendations are provided for effective and equitable technology selection, application, and training to optimize the impact of eHealth on relationships and trust. The review findings can inform providers' and policymakers' decision-making around the use of eHealth in primary care delivery to facilitate relationship-building.

E-Mental Health Services in Canada: Can They Close the Access Gap?

With significant unmet needs for mental healthcare in Canada, there is a growing interest in e-mental health (e-MH) services to meet gaps in access. While the policy window appears to be open, it is unclear how best to implement e-MH services due to health system barriers that create unmet needs in the first place. We explore the financing, organization and delivery of Canadian mental health services and discuss the promise of e-MH services for alleviating access barriers, highlighting increased policy attention during the COVID-19 pandemic. We consider how evidence-based e-MH services have successfully scaled in other publicly funded healthcare systems and note potential issues in the Canadian context.

Elements and Definitions of Continuing Professional Development Leadership: A Scoping Review.

INTRODUCTION: Leaders are being asked to transform the way that continuing professional development (CPD) is delivered to focus on better, safer, and higher quality care. However, there is scarce literature on CPD leadership. We set out to study what CPD leadership means and describe the competencies required for CPD leadership. METHODS: A scoping review following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses extension guidelines for scoping reviews guidelines was conducted. With librarian support, four databases were searched for publications related to leadership, medical education, and CPD. Publications were screened by two reviewers and three reviewers extracted data. RESULTS: Among 3886 publications, 46 were eligible for a full-text review and 13 met the final inclusion criteria. There was no agreed upon definition of CPD leadership and variable models and approaches to leadership in the literature. Contextual issues shaping CPD (eg, funding, training, and information technology) are evolving. We identified several attitudes and behaviors (eg, strategic thinking), skills (eg, collaboration), and knowledge (eg, organizational awareness) important to CPD leadership, but no established set of unique competencies. DISCUSSION: These results offer the CPD community a foundation on which competencies, models, and training programs can build. This work suggests the need to build consensus on what CPD leadership means, what CPD leaders do, and what they will need to create and sustain change. We suggest the adaptation of existing leadership frameworks to a CPD context to better guide leadership and leadership development programs.

Perceived Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Continuing Professional Development (CPD) During COVID-19: CPD Providers' Perspectives.

INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 precipitated many CPD providers to develop new technology competencies to create effective online CPD. This study aims to improve our understanding of CPD providers' comfort level, supports, perceived advantages/disadvantages, and issues in technology-enhanced CPD delivery during COVID-19. METHODS: A survey was distributed to CPD providers at the University of Toronto and members of the Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education and analyzed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Of the 111 respondents, 81% felt very to somewhat confident to provide online CPD, but less than half reported IT, financial, or faculty development supports. The top reported advantage to online CPD delivery was reaching a new demographic; top disadvantages included videoconferencing fatigue, social isolation, and competing priorities. There was interest in using less frequently used educational technology such as online collaboration tools, virtual patients, and augmented/virtual reality. DISCUSSION: COVID-19 precipitated an increased comfort level in using synchronous technologies to provide CPD, giving the CPD community an increased cultural acceptance and skill level to build on. As we move beyond the pandemic, it will be important to consider ongoing faculty development, particularly toward asynchronous and HyFlex delivery methods to continue expand CPD reach and negate negative online experiences such as videoconferencing fatigue, social isolation, and online distractions.

A Qualitative Study to Understand the Cultural Factors That Influence Clinical Data Use for Continuing Professional Development.

INTRODUCTION: The use of data to inform lifelong learning has become increasingly important in continuing professional development (CPD) practice. Despite the potential benefits of data-driven learning, our understanding of how physicians engage in data-informed learning activities, particularly for CPD, remains unclear and warrants further study. The purpose of this study was to explore how physicians perceive cultural factors (individual, organizational, and systemic) that influence the use of clinical data to inform lifelong learning and self-initiated CPD activities. METHODS: This qualitative study is part of an explanatory sequential mixed-methods study examining data-informed learning. Participants were psychiatrists and general surgeons from Canada and the United States. Recruitment occurred between April 2019 and November 2019, and the authors conducted semistructured telephone interviews between May 2019 and November 2019. The authors performed thematic analysis using an iterative, inductive method of constant comparative analysis. RESULTS: The authors interviewed 28 physicians: 17 psychiatrists (61%) and 11 general surgeons (39%). Three major themes emerged from the continuous, iterative analysis of interview transcripts: (1) a strong relationship between data and trust, (2) a team-based approach to data-informed learning for practice improvement, and (3) a need for organizational support and advocacy to put data into practice. CONCLUSION: Building trust, taking a team-based approach, and engaging multiple stakeholders, such as data specialists and organizational leadership, may significantly improve the use of data-informed learning. The results are situated in the existing literature, and opportunities for future research are summarized.

"I think it's something that we should lean in to": The use of OpenNotes in Canadian psychiatric care contexts by clinicians.

Background: OpenNotes is the concept of patients having access to their health records and clinical notes in a digital form. In psychiatric settings, clinicians often feel uncomfortable with this concept, and require support during implementation. Objective: This study utilizes an implementation science lens to explore clinicians' perceptions about using OpenNotes in Canadian psychiatric care contexts. The findings are intended to inform the co-design of implementation strategies to support the implementation of OpenNotes in Canadian contexts. Method: This qualitative descriptive study employed semi-structured interviews which were completed among health professionals of varying disciplines working in direct care psychiatric roles. Data analysis consisted of a qualitative directed content analysis using themes outlined from an international Delphi study of mental health clinicians and experts. Ethical approval was obtained from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and the University of Toronto. Results: In total, 23 clinicians from psychiatric settings participated in the interviews. Many of the themes outlined within the Delphi study were voiced. Benefits included enhancements to patient recall, and empowerment, improvements to care quality, strengthened relational effects and effects on professional autonomy and efficiencies. Despite the anticipated benefits of OpenNotes, identified challenges pertained to clarity surrounding exemption policies, training on patient facing notes, managing disagreements, and educating patients on reading clinical notes. Conclusion: Many benefits and challenges were identified for adopting OpenNotes in Canadian psychiatric settings. Future work should focus on applying implementation frameworks to develop interventions that address the identified challenges.

Identifying essential factors that influence user engagement with digital mental health tools in clinical care settings: Protocol for a Delphi study.

Introduction: Improving effective user engagement with digital mental health tools has become a priority in enabling the value of digital health. With increased interest from the mental health community in embedding digital health tools as part of care delivery, there is a need to examine and identify the essential factors in influencing user engagement with digital mental health tools in clinical care. The current study will use a Delphi approach to gain consensus from individuals with relevant experience and expertise (e.g. patients, clinicians and healthcare administrators) on factors that influence user engagement (i.e. an essential factor). Methods: Participants will be invited to complete up to four rounds of online surveys. The first round of the Delphi study comprises of reviewing existing factors identified in literature and commenting on whether any factors they believe are important are missing from the list. Subsequent rounds will involve asking participants to rate the perceived impact of each factor in influencing user engagement with digital mental health tools in clinical care contexts. This work is expected to consolidate the perspectives from relevant stakeholders and the academic literature to identify a core set of factors considered essential in influencing user engagement with digital mental health tools in clinical care contexts.

Why are Patient Portals Important in the Age of COVID-19? Reflecting on Patient and Team Experiences From a Toronto Hospital Network.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed how care is being delivered in Canada. With conventional in-person care being transitioned to virtual care, the approach that patients are able to engage and access their care has dramatically changed. At the University Health Network (UHN), which is Canada's largest academic and teaching hospital network, we expanded the myUHN Patient Portal in 2017 after its early adopter phase to enable patients and family members to view parts of their clinical notes and test results. As the pandemic progressed, we observed high adoption of myUHN to support virtual care and rapid delivery of COVID-19 test results in real time. In this article, we share and reflect on our experience of adapting myUHN to support the demands of the pandemic, including portal adoption outcomes across multiple waves of the pandemic, the impetus for increased patient experience staff dedicated for myUHN support, and patients' perceptions of the value of the portal and virtual care. Based on these reflections, we outline our perspectives on the future role of patient portals to support patient care and experience in a post-pandemic environment.