Opportunistic salpingectomy: What You Need to Know
British Columbia is leading the way in ovarian cancer prevention with new fee-for-service support for opportunistic salpingectomy, a procedure that reduces the risk of developing gynecologic cancer.
What is Opportunistic Salpingectomy?
Opportunistic salpingectomy involves removing the fallopian tubes during a planned abdominal or pelvic surgery to provide significant cancer prevention benefits.
Recent BC research tracked over 25,000 women for nearly 10 years and demonstrated:
- 80% reduction in ovarian cancer risk
- No increase in surgical complications or recovery time
- No evidence of earlier menopause or use of hormone replacement
Billing Changes Support Cancer Prevention
Effective February 15, 2025, the Ministry of Health implemented new billing policies to encourage this procedure:
- Opportunistic salpingectomy is no longer considered incidental to other abdominal surgeries, enabling it to be billed in addition to the primary procedure.
- When performing a salpingectomy with another surgical procedure, surgeons can bill the salpingectomy at 50% using fee codes 04003, 04041, or 04042 as appropriate.
- As surgical assist fees are based on the total value of procedures performed, surgical assistants should include the salpingectomy fee at 50% when calculating the total operative fee.
- A new fee code for opportunistic salpingectomy is under development.
The Bigger Picture
This initiative represents a significant shift in cancer prevention strategy, reflecting research and recommendations from BC Cancer as well as the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada.
Physicians are encouraged to talk to your patients about whether this procedure is right for them. For more information, please refer to the resources below:
- Specialist Services Committee (patient education pamphlet, consent handout, video)