Province says it will stabilize income for doctors
The province says it will stabilize income for doctors after hearing growing concerns that some would be forced to close their clinics because they were not being paid for telehealth consultations.
“Ontario will be providing advance payments to doctors, to be reconciled against future earnings, in order to ensure stability of physician services as we continue our battle against COVID-19,” the Ministry of Health said in a statement on Sunday.
Among the details: The province said it will flow advances to doctors to top up their monthly payments to 70 per cent of their normal income to support the cost of employee salaries, commercial rent and equipment leasing.
The average is based on the doctors’ 12-month average payment, and will be made in monthly instalments for three months, with no interest charged on repayment amounts.
The government will make monthly recoveries in five equal instalments starting in November.
The matter, which affects fee-for-service physicians, from family doctors to specialists, goes back to mid-March when the province asked doctors to do consultations over the phone or online during the pandemic to prevent people from congregating in waiting rooms.
The billing system gave the doctors five new billing codes to cover those telehealth services. But because of a computer glitch, the codes didn’t work. The doctors still have to pay for rent, staff and diagnostic equipment. Meanwhile, they’re also seeing fewer patients because of the outbreak.
Health Minister Christine Elliott acknowledged Friday that doctors were having difficulty getting paid and some were worried about keeping their offices open.
But is the plan outlined by the government a deal? Dr. Sohail Gandhi, the president of the Ontario Medical Association, said he considers it to be an “offer.” He has not been able to present to it to his members because it was leaked to the media first.
“There is no agreement. Things are still the same way they were on Friday,” Gandhi said.
“The offer doesn’t really protect health-care infrastructure. It makes the assumption that health care is operating at 100 per cent capacity. If a general surgeon doesn’t do 10 gall bladder surgeries this month, he can’t do 20 gall bladder surgeries to make up for it next month,” Gandhi said.
“The offer shows a lack of understanding of how health care works and how stressed the system is. We’re still trying to explain to the government that there’s no capacity in the system to make up for the lost work.”
The province expects to be ready to start processing claims in early May for payments in June, according to its statement on Sunday. Physicians have up to six months from the date of service to submit claims.
That means they will still be waiting at least two months, which is no change from where they stood on Friday, Gandhi said.
The doctors had been seeking an agreement similar to the one in Newfoundland, where doctors are being paid 80 per cent of average billings on the condition that they keep their clinics open and assist where needed in areas facing COVID-19 outbreaks.
Another option is to allow physicians to use the same billing codes they use for face-to-face consultations, some doctors have argued.
Dr. Alykhan Abdulla, vice-chair of the OMA’s section of general and family practice, which represents Ontario’s 14,000 family physicians, said there are many caveats and expectations that have to be met before the government’s plan becomes an agreement.
“We have no deal. We feel badly about it. We just want to be doctors,” he said. jlaucius@postmedia.com