CEO Strategic Leadership Series
Virtual care surged during the pandemic, but utilization across Canada and the US has plateaued or declined — despite overwhelming patient demand for convenience. The reason is not lack of interest. It is a flawed economic model.
Most virtual-care programs were designed as extensions of in-person care, not as standalone delivery models. That design flaw makes virtual care financially unsustainable and operationally inefficient.
Three systemic missteps explain the stall:
1. Fee-for-service reimbursement dependence
Virtual visits were meant to replace in-clinic visits temporarily. Once fee schedules tightened, program economics collapsed.
2. Inadequate workflow integration
Virtual care operates as a parallel channel — separate staff, separate scheduling, separate triage — creating duplication and delay.
3. Lack of asynchronous care models
Most health systems focus on video visits, but 60–70 percent of primary-care needs can be handled asynchronously.
To unlock the next growth wave, virtual care must evolve into a clinical productivity multiplier, not a revenue substitute.
This means:
• Integrating virtual triage with real-time load balancing
• Shifting administrative work away from physicians
• Embedding remote monitoring and predictive alerts
• Scaling asynchronous care pathways
• Redesigning compensation models that reward resolution, not volume
Virtual care can still transform access and efficiency — but only if the economic architecture changes.
How Arcus Can Help
Arcus redesigns virtual-care operating models, builds hybrid care workflows, and develops asynchronous care pathways that improve both cost and clinician capacity.
Next step: Request an Arcus Virtual Care Economics Assessment.
Arcus offers clients a unique combination of fact-based industry knowledge and superior functional expertise. Our consultants have an average of over 22 years experience, twice the industry average. Find out more about our growth, change management and operations services.
At Arcus we believe that a strategy is only as good as the results it delivers. Strategic outcomes are most predictable and effective when companies develop a portfolio of initiatives that are aligned with core competencies and aligned activities enable the company to offer a superior value proposition.
Please contact Arcus for case studies and to discuss how we can help you.
Service coverage
The variety, breadth, and depth of the projects where Arcus can be a resource are made unique by each client’s specific needs. By providing a very small sample of projects we’ve completed, we can help you understand how and when to use our services. Visit the links below to find out more about a specific problem or opportunity you would like to address.
Below is a sample of the range of services that Arcus has provided to clients.
- A survey of 2,350 consumers and 1,320 business leaders for feedback on sustainability trends
- Architecting a multi-year change strategy for a Fortune 500 company
- Mentoring a CEO on organizational change
- Excellence transformation of a leading B2B services company
- Creating a new sales deployment model for a healthcare company
- Developing a position evaluation and compensation model for a professional medical association
- Improving services to customer segments by deepening their understanding of customer attitudes
“Arcus manages to consistently deliver tangible results on market research and strategy projects. They combine deep business expertise, powerful research capabilities, and innovative thinking to deliver substantial value.”
– Vice President, Nikon
Data Dashboards
- Empower your decision-making with comprehensive, trusted data.
- Gain actionable insights with access to real-time Canadian consumer, business and sector spending and location data.
- Inform economic policy, investments, sales deployment and strategic plans by looking at trends across different industries and regions in Canada.
- Influence your businesses’ future growth plans by understanding consumer behaviour
Media Coverage
Arcus has been quoted extensively in media on a range of topics and can offer research studies, insights and ideas. Here are some examples from the Globe and Mail, BNN, CTV, Global TV and others.
- Federal budget – Canada’s GDP and Canadian businesses – BNN
- Economies are on different tracks: USMCA renegotiations – BNN
- Klarna on the evolution of digital payment tech – BNN
- Canada’s retail sector round up – BNN
- Buy now, pay later will become a $950M industry in Canada – BNN
- Nordstrom countdown to opening begins – Toronto Star
- No lineups outside stores in five years – BNN
- Black Friday retail, marketing, and cross-border shopping trends – BNN
- Does global expansion need a local flavour? – Globe and Mail
- Art of the Pitch – Protect company’s interests when approaching giants – Globe and Mail
- Off-the-shelf technology or a custom design? – Globe and Mail