BC launches new payment model for family physicians in 2023

The BC government is launching a new payment model for family doctors in February.

Provincial health officials announced the news Monday morning, saying doctors will be able to opt out of the current fee-for-service system in the new year. In this system, doctors are paid according to the number of patients they see per day.

The new model will take into account factors such as the amount of time a doctor spends with a patient, the complexity of their needs, the number of patients a doctor sees daily, as well as the total number of patients a doctor sees. load in his firm and their administrative costs.

Most family physicians in British Columbia are currently paid around $30 per patient visit, whether they are treating a cold or a complex chronic condition.

In September, Health Minister Adrian Dix acknowledged that British Columbia has been going through a health crisis since at least the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The number of people without a family doctor in the province rose from around 340,000 in 2003 to 908,000 in 2017 and is expected to be higher this year, he said.

Since becoming health minister in 2017, he said, 38,000 new employees have been added to the health care system in British Columbia.

Salary increase for doctors

Dix, speaking to the press and public on Monday, said the new payment model will make it more attractive for doctors to enter family practice and retain existing physicians. He said it will give family physicians the flexibility and autonomy to create the type of practice that’s right for them.

« We’re making family medicine the priority it should be, » Dix said.

Family physicians will get a significant raise under the new compensation model.

The provincial government says a full-time family doctor will receive about $385,000 a year, up from $250,000 now, under the new three-year framework agreement reached with Doctors of BC last week.

As well as wage increases, the government says the funds will also cover income disparities and new hourly premiums for after-hours services.

Dr. Ramneek Dosanjh, president of Doctors of BC, hailed the new deal on Monday – calling it the best in the country and a “seismic shift” for the better in British Columbia

The new framework agreement, which was developed between Doctors of BC, the province and BC Family Doctors, has yet to be ratified by physicians.

In November 2021, a report published in the Canadian Family Physician Journal found that promising family physicians are more likely to choose hospital work and specialty practice over family medicine – in part because they worry about the consequences of fresh from British Columbia. service model.