Division Staffing Update

It is with great pleasure that I inform you that after some staffing changes at Central Island Division, I have appointed Sharon Todd as the PCN Director for PCNs in Oceanside and Port Alberni. Sharon brings a wealth of Division experience as well as her recent knowledge gained in heading up the PCN in Port Alberni. I look forward to a more comprehensive, collaborative experience in delivering PCN services to our family practitioners in Central Vancouver Island. Sharon can be reached at stodd@cidivision.ca or 250-937-0611.

Joining the team as PCN Coordinator is Amanda Salvage who will be assisting with all administration and operations of each PCN. Amanda can be reached at asalvage@cidivision.ca or 250-937-9402.

The near future will see the PCN Team recruit two PCN Project Leads to assist in delivering PCN services to Central Island. We are committed to keeping all stakeholders informed of changes going forward and appreciate your patience while we go through this change cycle.  Physician leads for each area will be important partners in the interview and candidate selection process for the PCN Project Leads.

Shared Care & CME Update

Shared Care Port Alberni
A Shared Care project has begun in Port Alberni bringing together Specialists and GPs. This project will focus on offering support to remote First Nations surrounding Port Alberni and the West Coast.

For more information and if you are interested in participating, please get a hold of Tina Biello at tbiello@cidivision.ca

COPD CME in Parksville
Presenter: Dr. Ian Warbrick
Date: Thursday, June 13th
Time: 5:30-7:30 pm
Location: The Beach Club Resort

We invite you to join us on Thursday June 13 for an evening CME on COPD in Oceanside with Dr. Ian Warbrick. Joining him will be a community RT and Oceanside PCN pharmacist, Corey Jefferies.

The goals of the meeting will be to:

• Cover the new GOLD COPD guidelines
• When to escalate vs de-escalate inhaler therapy
• Other therapies for COPD
• An update on PFTs and community RT services
• Special authority navigation

Dinner will be provided. All providers from both Oceanside and Port Alberni are welcome. Sessionals will be paid.

Long Term Care Initiative Lead Physician

Division is looking for a Long-Term Care Initiative (LTCI) lead physician for either area wide or one physician lead for each area (Port Alberni and Oceanside).

As you may know with the advent of the LFP and recently announced changes to the Long-Term Care delivery and reimbursement, this project will be going through some changes in 2024. The Division seeks a LTCI member who will work with staff to:
assist other family practitioners to understand and engage in the new payment model
support engagement sessions to help others understand the new LTCI developments
work with Division staff to find and deliver Quality Improvement projects on behalf of the LTCI project
This work has some short meetings, some liaisons with FPSC long-term deliverers and some planning sessions for potential Quality Improvement projects within the LTCI. Lead physicians are reimbursed for this assistance with sessional hours.

If you have an interest in this project and want to assist in it's future success, we want to hear from you. Please contact Evelyn at 250-703-6159 or Jill Skuse at 250-937-9079.

New LFP Payment Schedule

May 28, 2024
LFP Payment Schedule for clinic-based and facility-based care
Doctors of BC and BC Family Doctors continue to work with the Ministry of Health to refine and improve the Longitudinal Family Physician (LFP) Payment Model. We continue to listen to your feedback and adjust the payment model to address your concerns. To submit questions or feedback, please email FP.Billing@doctorsofbc.ca.

In this newsletter, we are providing information on the following:

• New LFP Payment Schedule for clinic-based and facility-based care
• Supporting you in this transition
• Upcoming LFP facility-based care billing webinars

LFP Payment Schedule - effective June 24

On June 24, billing will begin for inpatient care, pregnancy & newborn care, long-term care, and palliative care in facilities.

Today, we are sharing the LFP Payment Schedule that details how to bill for both clinic and facility-based care. This new payment schedule will be effective June 24, 2024.

Highlights include:

• Longitudinal family physicians who bill the LFP Payment Model for clinic-based care can start billing for facility-based care on June 24. (Billing by longitudinal family physicians remunerated under other payment models will start at a later date.)
• Locum physicians will be able to bill facility-based care from the outset.
• Physicians will be able to choose which facility settings they wish to bill under the LFP Payment Model and can remain with fee-for-service/alternate payment, if they wish.
• Physicians will need to register for the settings they wish to bill under the LFP Payment Model.

To incorporate facility-based care, most of the payment schedule has changed. We recommend that you review the payment schedule in full, even if you do not provide facility-based care. Until June 24, the current payment schedule (dated March 2024) remains in effect.

BC Family Doctors’ Simplified LFP Guide has been updated to include the new time and interaction codes for facility-based care (member-login required). The Doctors of BC and BC Family Doctors compensation calculators have also been updated.

If you are not already a member of BC Family Doctors a two-week trial membership is being offered. Learn more about this, as well as member benefits, on the BC Family Doctors website. Not sure if you are a member? Email sgp.office@doctorsofbc.ca.

Supporting you in this transition

Moving from current compensation models and funding supports to new ones is a significant transition. We know this brings hope and anticipation for many of you, but also uncertainty and worry. We have a vast array of communities, practice models, health authorities, and rural/geographical differences in care delivery. This means the changes impact physicians in different ways. More important, however, are the ways in which we are the same: our focus on exceptional patient care and our commitment to fair compensation for all physicians.

With your input and feedback, we’ve made countless improvements to the clinic-based model and will do the same for facility-based care in the upcoming months. We are also finalizing details of additional FPSC support to help you navigate this time of change and to give you more time to transition from the current funding and models of care to the new LFP billing codes for inpatient care and FPSC payments. Details of this will be shared shortly.   

Learn more in our recent joint Presidents’ Letter.

LFP billing webinars

There’s still time to register for the remaining facility-based care billing webinars:

• How to get started: Inpatient care: Thursday, May 30, 2024, from 6-7:30pm. Register here.
• How to get started: Pregnancy & newborn care in hospital: Tuesday, June 4, 2024, from 6-7:30pm. Register here.

The webinars will review:

• Eligibility and registration
• Time codes
• Interaction codes

As there is a lot of LFP Payment Model content to cover, the webinars will not provide additional information about FPSC supports for these areas of care. That information will be provided separately.

As space is limited, webinar registration is open only to family physicians and residents. We will share the recordings shortly after the webinars, including the recording from yesterday’s webinar about billing for care in long-term care and palliative care facilities.

Need more information?
Write us
Email: FP.Billing@doctorsofbc.ca

View our information online (member login required)
Doctors of BC: doctorsofbc.ca/new-payment-model
BC Family Doctors: https://bcfamilydocs.ca/lfp-payment-model/
BC Government website: gov.bc.ca/MSP/LFP (login not required)

Addressing duplication on panel lists

Earlier this week, the Ministry of Health shared a memo that outlines a new process to reduce duplications of patients when they appear to be on more than one panel list. We are sending this newsletter to summarize the key points and to ensure physicians are prepared for the changes to come.

A total of 91% of panel lists in the province have been submitted into the Provincial Attachment System (PAS). This is a huge accomplishment, and we want to thank everyone who helped achieve this milestone.

Data collected from these uploaded panel lists indicates that about 500,000 patients (about 23% of patients on physicians' panel lists) appear to have more than one family doctor. Over the next few weeks and months, the Ministry will be taking steps to address this challenge to ensure, where possible, that patients only appear on one list of the physician who is their regular source of care (ie- Most Responsible Provider or "MRP"). The goal is to ensure that patients have as much access as possible to a family doctor. Patients can continue to seek care from physicians other than their own family doctor, as needed, such as specialists or at walk-in clinics.

To avoid future panel conflicts, please continue to keep your panel list up-to-date, ensuring it reflects the status of patients who are joining or leaving your practice. We recommend at minimum that this is done on a quarterly basis.

Upcoming steps to minimize duplication on panel lists:

How it will work
Patients who have been uploaded onto more than one panel and have received care from one physician 100% of the time over the last three years – will be automatically assigned to the physician they have been seeing. There will be no notification to patients or physicians, but physicians can view their patients’ status in a new column marked 'MRP Status' that will appear in the PAS. This will start May 28, 2024.

Patients who have been uploaded onto more than one panel and have been seeing one family physician 80% of the time over the last three years - will receive letters from the Ministry of Health starting in July identifying who the Ministry believes to be their MRP. If they agree, no further action is needed. If they disagree or have concerns, they will be asked to go online to access a new patient portal or call 8-1-1 to confirm their MRP.

Patients who have been uploaded onto more than one panel but do not appear to have received a majority of care from one physician – will be contacted by Ministry staff starting in the summer and asked to visit the patient portal or call 8-1-1 to confirm their MRP.

What it means for physicians

Starting May 28, 2024, physicians will be able to view the status of patients in a new ‘MRP Status’ column that will appear in the PAS Panel Registry. The column will indicate the following:

• Confirmed – This means the patient is confirmed as attached to you.
• Pending – This means the patient’s attachment status remains unresolved at this time.
• Not the MRP – This means the patient is confirmed as attached to a different physician, or the patient has indicated they are not on anyone’s panel.
• Removed – This will appear when a physician removes a patient from their panel in the PAS.

For additional information and if you have questions or concerns e-mail healthbcsupport@phsa.ca. Detailed FAQs and other communications will be available in the near future.

Deadline to claim PAS Registry Payments

The deadline for eligible family physicians who completed the PAS Registry Payment Requirements by March 31, 2024 to submit their PAS Panel Registry Payment or Clinic and Provider Registry Payment claim is June 30, 2024. However, to ensure that claims are not rejected, Submission Code A must be included on all claims submitted between May 1 – June 30, 2024. Learn more on the Doctors of BC PAS payment information web page or in our PAS Registry Payment FAQs.

Preparing for LFP facility-based care billing

Preparing for LFP facility-based care billing
Doctors of BC and BC Family Doctors continue to work with the Ministry of Health to refine and improve the Longitudinal Family Physician (LFP) Payment Model. We continue to listen to your feedback and adjust the payment model to address your concerns. To submit questions or feedback, please email FP.Billing@doctorsofbc.ca

In this newsletter, we are providing information on the following:

• Important dates for LFP facility-based care
• Updates for pregnancy and newborn care in hospital

Billing start date
Preparations for billing facility-based care under the LFP Payment Model are underway, with billing details having now been agreed upon. A new LFP Payment Schedule is under construction. Billing codes are being built into MSP/Teleplan.

As the implementation is progressing on schedule, we can now confirm that you will be able to begin billing for facility-based care on June 24.

Over the next few weeks, our efforts will be focused on implementation and billing education to ensure that you have what you need for a successful start to billing.

Timeline
Below, you will find our anticipated dates for when you can expect the LFP Payment Schedule, billing education, and other key billing supports.

Now
You can now register for billing webinars about LFP facility-based care.

The webinars will take place on May 27, May 30, and June 4 from 6-7:30pm. They will also be recorded for those who cannot attend or prefer to watch at a time that is convenient to them.

One webinar is being held for each area of facility-based care billing:

• Long-term care and palliative care facilities: Monday, May 27, 2024. Register here.
• Inpatient care: Thursday, May 30, 2024. Register here.
• Pregnancy & newborn care in hospital: Tuesday, June 4, 2024. Register here.

As space is limited, webinar registration is open only to family physicians and residents. We will share the recordings soon after the webinars.

By May 27

We expect that the new LFP Payment Schedule for clinic-based and facility-based care will be shared with you by May 27. BC Family Doctors’ Simplified LFP Guide has been revamped, and updated information will be ready along with the new payment schedule.

May 27 - June 4

Billing webinars for specific areas of facility-based care will take place on May 27, May 30, and June 4 from 6-7:30pm. These will provide you with the information you need and provide you with an opportunity to ask questions.

June 24

Start of billing for eligible physicians.

Updates for pregnancy & newborn care in hospital

Physicians who provide pregnancy and newborn care in hospital shared several suggestions for improvement of LFP billing.

You asked us to revisit the value of the birth code and include a code for pregnancy-related surgical assists. As a result of this, we took a fulsome look at the billing codes for labour and birth care with the Ministry of Health.

The time code will continue to be $230/hour. The revised interaction codes are:

• Pregnancy-related visit: $30
• Newborn visit: $30
• Newborn resuscitation: $60
• Birth: $270
• Pregnancy-related surgical assist: $150
• Consultation: $60

Together with the Ministry of Health, we want to support all physicians and communities in providing this important care. We recognize that the patterns of practice and billing are different depending on whether your hospital has a low, medium, or high volume of births. In some communities, fee-for-service may better suit the volume of labour and birth care. In other communities, alternative payment models may be needed. That’s why physicians will be able to choose if they wish to bill their facility-based services under the LFP Payment Model.

The Compensation Calculator for pregnancy and newborn care in hospital on the Doctors of BC and BC Family Doctors’ websites is being updated to reflect these changes. We will share with you in an upcoming newsletter once they encompass the revised interaction codes.

We have also made some language updates for the LFP Payment Model to be more inclusive of trans, Two-Spirit and non-binary people. We will now be using the term “pregnancy and newborn care” in alignment with the language used by Trans Care BC.

As we move forward with the initial launch of billing for facility-based pregnancy and newborn care, we will continue working with you to improve the array of compensation models for this and all types of care.

Need more information?
Write us
Email: FP.Billing@doctorsofbc.ca

View our information online (member login required)
Doctors of BC: doctorsofbc.ca/new-payment-model
BC Family Doctors: bcfamilydocs.ca/lfp-payment-model
BC Government website: gov.bc.ca/MSP/LFP (login not required)

Oceanside Hospice Society

The Oceanside Hospice Society serves individuals and families experiencing end-of-life, care-giving and bereavement in the area stretching from Deep Bay to Nanoose, and west to Errington and Whiskey Creek
We strive to provide links in the continuum of care by supporting care giving at home, in hospital or the palliative care unit at Trillium and at community care facilities.
Please contact us at 250.752.6227 or visit www.oceansidehospice.com for further information.

Divisions Dispatch

The latest news from the provincial team and complementary organizations.

Please click here for updates including:

• LFP Payment Model updates
• Updated BC Cancer screening report titles
• Divisions invited to meet with BC Cancer Cervix Screening Program to prepare for transition from cytology to HPV primary screening
• East Kootenay family doctor develops guide to reducing environmental impact of health care
• July 19 webinar | Antidepressants and substance use
• July 20 webinar | Updates on risks and harms of alcohol use
• Opioid use disorder training for doctors and their clinical teams: LOUD in PC Collaborative
   

Divisions in the News

Divisions in the News
See what is going on in other divisions around BC:

https://divisionsbc.ca/provincial/news-and-events