Correct Answer: whether virtual visits should stay, and on what terms
Passage Reference: Our view is that it should, but only under rules that protect the quality of care.
Why this is correct: The editorial asks whether virtual care should become a lasting part of medicare, and then weighs the rules it should come with. So it is about whether the visits stay and on what terms.
Tips: Read the first two sentences for the decision the province faces and the writers’ view. Then check that every later paragraph comes back to that decision.
Why the other options are wrong:
- how doctors are paid for after-hours phone triage: After-hours triage is mentioned only once, as something Popescu accepts. How doctors are paid for it is not the main topic.
- why rural clinics are closing across the north: No clinics are said to be closing. Karimi talks about northern connections and interpreters, not closures.
- whether walk-in clinics should replace family doctors: Walk-in clinics appear only in Kobayashi’s comparison. Nobody proposes that walk-in clinics replace family doctors.
Correct Answer: a finding that patients keep more appointments from home
Passage Reference: Her review of billing records found that missed appointments fell sharply once patients no longer had to drive
Why this is correct: Kobayashi’s review found that missed appointments fell sharply once patients no longer had to drive. A finding that patients keep more appointments from home would back her case for keeping virtual visits.
Tips: First look at Kobayashi’s reason: what her review of billing records turned up. Then pick the proof that says the same thing in other words.
Why the other options are wrong:
- an audit of diagnoses missed during video visits: An audit of missed diagnoses is what the editorial suggests to test Popescu’s worry. It would not show that Kobayashi is right.
- a survey showing patients prefer evening clinic hours: Clinic hours are never discussed, and a preference for evening hours says nothing about Kobayashi’s finding on missed appointments.
- a rise in demand for same-week clinic visits: Demand for quick in-person visits connects to Ashworth’s fallback. It says nothing in favour of keeping visits virtual.
Correct Answer: Ilya Popescu
Passage Reference: some problems, such as a heart murmur or a changing mole, are easy to miss through a phone camera
Why this is correct: Popescu says some problems, such as a heart murmur or a changing mole, are easy to miss through a phone camera. These are physical signs.
Tips: Read each speaker’s lines and look for examples that follow “such as”. Then check whether those examples are about the body.
Why the other options are wrong:
- Colin Ashworth: Ashworth wants an in-person visit when a video visit cannot rule out serious illness. But Ashworth does not say which physical signs a screen misses.
- Noor Karimi: Karimi worries about weak connections and missing interpreters, not about physical signs being missed on camera.
- Lorna Kobayashi: Kobayashi defends video visits with her own doctor. She never suggests that signs are missed on a screen.
Correct Answer: the province would set internet and interpreter standards first
Passage Reference: She wants the province to publish standards for both before any fee becomes permanent.
Why this is correct: Karimi wants the province to publish standards for connections and interpreters before any fee becomes permanent. Her condition would mean these standards come first.
Tips: Find Karimi’s lines in the third paragraph and read her request to the end. Then match her idea in other words.
Why the other options are wrong:
- remote patients would be seen only in person from now on: Karimi does not want remote patients seen only in person. She wants video visits with good connections and interpreters.
- northern clinics would stop offering virtual triage after hours: Stopping after-hours triage in northern clinics is never Karimi’s condition. After-hours triage comes up only with Popescu.
- interpreters would travel north to replace video visits: Karimi wants interpreters available for video visits, not interpreters travelling north to replace them.
Correct Answer: firm in its view yet fair to its critics
Passage Reference: Our view is that it should, but only under rules that protect the quality of care. we think his concern deserves a fair hearing
Why this is correct: The writers state their view early and end by urging the minister to act. But they also say the cautious doctor’s concern deserves a fair hearing. Then they set out a way to answer every concern.
Tips: Tone comes from how the writers state their position and treat the speakers. Read the first paragraph and the opening of the third paragraph.
Why the other options are wrong:
- alarmed and strongly opposed to any change: The writers are not opposed to change. They want virtual billing made permanent.
- neutral and unwilling to take either side: The tone is not neutral. The writers give their view in the first paragraph and urge the minister to act.
- mocking toward the doctors who resist change: The editorial does not mock doctors. It says Popescu’s concern deserves a fair hearing.
Correct Answer: a familiar doctor on screen beats a stranger
Passage Reference: A patient who sees her own doctor on a screen is better served than one who sees a stranger at a walk-in clinic,
Why this is correct: Kobayashi spoke at a hearing in the legislature. She compared two patients. One sees her own doctor on a screen, and one sees a stranger at a walk-in clinic. She said the first is better served. So a familiar doctor on screen beats a stranger.
Tips: The comment names Kobayashi, so go to her quote at the legislature. The right choice is a shorter way of saying it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- video visits catch more illnesses than clinic visits: Kobayashi never claims that video visits catch more illnesses. The points Kobayashi makes are about missed appointments and seeing your own doctor.
- walk-in clinics should handle all routine renewals: Kobayashi wants routine renewals to stay virtual with the patient’s regular physician. She speaks of walk-in clinics as the weaker choice, so Kobayashi would not hand them the renewals.
- rural doctors prefer phone calls to video calls: Kobayashi says nothing about what rural doctors prefer, phone or video.
Correct Answer: open-ended video booking could crowd out hands-on exams
Passage Reference: But an open-ended menu of video slots, in his view, would crowd out patients who need a hands-on examination
Why this is correct: Popescu is the family physician in Barrie. He argues that an open-ended menu of video slots would crowd out patients who need a hands-on examination. That is the fear the commenter shares.
Tips: The comment calls him the Barrie family physician. Find the sentence in his lines that starts with “But”.
Why the other options are wrong:
- after-hours triage should never be done by video: Popescu actually accepts virtual triage after hours, so he does not want it banned.
- video visits would raise the cost of medicare: The cost of medicare is never part of Popescu’s argument. His worry is about crowding out patients and missed signs.
- family doctors would lose patients to walk-in clinics: Walk-in clinics come up only in Kobayashi’s quote. Popescu does not warn that family doctors will lose patients to them.
Correct Answer: a video visit is only as good as its connection
Passage Reference: points out that a video visit is only as good as the connection behind it
Why this is correct: Karimi points out that a video visit is only as good as the connection behind it. The commenter says the rule makers should not forget this point.
Tips: The comment names Karimi, so go to her lines. Look at the first thing she points out.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a phone call works better than a video call: Karimi never says a phone call works better. The point Karimi makes is that a weak connection spoils a video visit.
- a video visit should never replace a clinic visit: Karimi does not reject video visits. Karimi wants them to work well, with standards for connections and interpreters.
- a remote patient needs a doctor who holds the chart: The regular doctor holding the chart is part of Kobayashi’s proposal, not Karimi’s point.
Correct Answer: an in-person appointment within a week
Passage Reference: must lead to an in-person appointment within a week
Why this is correct: Ashworth argues that a virtual visit which cannot rule out a serious illness must lead to an in-person appointment within a week. The commenter says this rule would have given the family a firm date.
Tips: The comment names Ashworth’s rule. Read the end of his sentence for what must happen and how soon.
Why the other options are wrong:
- an in-person appointment on the same day: Ashworth does ask for an in-person appointment, but within a week, not on the same day.
- a second video call within a week: Ashworth’s rule is about moving from a virtual visit to an in-person one, not booking another video call.
- a specialist referral within two days: Specialists and a two-day limit are never mentioned by Ashworth or anyone else in the editorial.
Correct Answer: keep the codes, with the safeguards described here
Passage Reference: The province should make virtual billing permanent for renewals and follow-ups
Why this is correct: The commenter agrees with Kobayashi, Popescu, Karimi and Ashworth in turn, and wishes the minister would act before the deadline. That fits keeping the billing codes together with the safeguards the editorial lists.
Tips: The commenter agrees with every speaker in turn. Compare each choice with the plan in the last paragraph of the editorial.
Why the other options are wrong:
- let the virtual billing codes quietly expire: The commenter agrees with Kobayashi that a familiar doctor on screen is worth having. So letting the codes expire goes against that view.
- move every follow-up visit back into clinics: The commenter supports Ashworth’s rule, which sends only visits that cannot rule out serious illness to a clinic, not every follow-up.
- open unlimited video slots for every patient: The commenter shares Popescu’s fear that open-ended video booking could crowd out hands-on exams, so unlimited slots would not fit that view.
