The Nova Scotia government is launching a pilot program to try a new way to pay GPs, but opposition politicians are worried it won’t go fast enough.
The government will use the mixed capitation model until at least March 2023 to pay 19 doctors working at three primary care clinics in Chéticamp, New Minas and Upper Tantallon. Three other clinics, including an additional 30 doctors, could be added to the pilot.
“We hope this new model will foster a more team-based approach and make it easier for patients to receive the care they need when and where they need it,” Health Minister Michelle Thompson told reporters at a news conference in Halifax on Thursday. .
Mixed capitation is a model that sees paid physicians through a formula that considers how many patients are on their list, the number of services they offer, and may include a bonus if it can be shown to improve access to care. ‘attention.
TARGET | Amy Smith Interview with Dr. Leisha Hawker, President of Doctors Nova Scotia:
President of Doctors Nova Scotia on a new payment program for GPs
Dr. Leisha Hawker says most new GPs want to work in collaborative settings.
Nova Scotia doctors are currently paid by contract or service fee. But Dr. Leisha Hawker, president of Doctors Nova Scotia, said most new GPs are looking for role models that promote collaborative medicine.
“They really want to do team-based health care,” he told reporters.
Hawker and Thompson said the combined capitation should result in more appointments for patients on the same day and the next day, and services on evenings and weekends, because if one doctor is not available, another doctor could intervene. or professional ally of the clinic.
Hawker said the payment model also addresses the fact that many patients are sicker and require more time with a doctor than current billing codes cover.
“The way the patient is cared for has changed and the volume is no longer a good measure of good care,” he said.
The pilot was agreed as part of the master agreement Doctors Nova Scotia signed with the province in 2019, but Thompson said the launch was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There is $ 7.3 million set aside to fund it and the minister said a third-party evaluation will determine what works and what needs to be improved.
“We need to make a massive change,” the NDP health critic says
Opposition MPs welcomed anything that could improve patients’ access to services, but said it did not go far enough.
Although combined capitation is only being tested here now, it has been in effect in other provinces for years, such as New Brunswick.
NDP health critic Susan Leblanc said she was pleased that the program was promoting more collaborative care, but said there was no reason to include as few clinics as part of the initial launch.
“We already know it works elsewhere and so we just implement it,” he told reporters.
“We don’t have time to sit back and try things out in small chunks. We need to make a massive change.”
Liberal MP Kelly Regan said the Conservatives promised during the election that they had a plan to fix healthcare and that Thursday’s announcement did not go far enough to deliver on that promise. He said a variety of health metrics have worsened since the Conservatives came to power last summer.
Waiting list of doctors up to 95,000
Prime Minister Tim Houston said during the election campaign that his plan to fix health care would take time and money and that things are likely to get worse before they get better.
While the intention is to expand the use of combined capitation after the pilot program, Thompson said doctors who prefer the pay-per-service model could still use it.
There are currently about 95,000 people on the province’s list to get a primary care provider.
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