Regulating professionals in virtual practice: Protecting the public interest in rapidly changing digital workplaces

Virtual practice is increasingly transforming service delivery in many professions, particularly with the rapid shift to virtual work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Regulatory authorities face intense pressure to facilitate this type of work while upholding their legal mandate to protect the public. However, there are many legal and ethical complexities associated with regulating professionals who engage in virtual practice. Regulatory activities in the public interest have changed to encompass the following: ensuring that standards provide guidance for virtual practice on topics such as consent, documentation, and privacy [1][2]; changing entry-to-practice requirements to include digital competencies; facilitating interjurisdictional virtual practice through licensure and liability insurance changes [3][4]; and adapting continuing competence requirements and disciplinary procedures to reflect modern digital environments [5]. Our knowledge synthesis project is shaped by the question: How is the public interest conceptualized when regulating professionals engaged in virtual practice? To answer this, we are conducting two inter-related activities that we will report on in our presentation: (1) A scoping review to map the diverse and interdisciplinary academic and grey literature on this topic; and (2) Policy case studies to examine specific challenges and promising practices across Canada. These deeper dive case examples include the role of professional regulation in the expansion of for-profit telehealth in British Columbia, implementation of a regulatory sandbox for legal innovation in Ontario, new standards of practice for disruptive technologies in the Canadian optical and dental fields and the impact on competition, and an interjurisdictional registration pilot for nurses in Alberta and Saskatchewan. There has been a recent push for regulatory policy reform based on current evidence [6][7]. This knowledge synthesis will help inform regulatory innovation and research in Canada, particularly given the rapid expansion of digitally-enabled work for regulated professionals over the past year.