Federation of Medical Women of Canada’s 100th Anniversary
…te: September 27-28, 2024 Location: Chateau Laurier in Ottawa, Ontario Physicians practicing in BC can apply to the JCC leadership fund for funding. JCC will identify if the physician’s learning objectives meet the criteria for funding. The learning objectives for the conference are listed on the agenda. If approved, the funding covers registration, travel and hotel. Register by June 30th, 2024 and take advantage of the 20% early bird discount. To…
The Big Idea: Pay family doctors differently
…andez shares with Macleans how B.C. rolled out the Longitudinal Family Physician payment model. When I started medical school, I planned to be an obstetrician. But as I completed my training, I realized that what I really enjoyed was family medicine—the opportunity to build a long-term relationship with a patient over 20, 30, maybe even 40 years. I was inspired by colleagues who had attended a birth early in their career and then were later presen…
LFP Payment Model Definitions
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Register Now! Federation of Medical Women of Canada’s 100th Anniversary
…te: September 27-28, 2024 Location: Chateau Laurier in Ottawa, Ontario Physicians practicing in BC can apply to the JCC leadership fund for funding. JCC will identify if the physician’s learning objectives meet the criteria for funding. The learning objectives for the conference are listed on the agenda. If approved, the funding covers registration, travel and hotel. Register by June 30th, 2024 and take advantage of the 20% early bird discount. To…
Will more doctors solve access to primary care?
…than ever, according to a recent article on The Hub. So why do many Canadians still struggle to find a family doctor? The problem isn’t just about the number of doctors – it’s how they’re distributed and what roles they choose. Many doctors are working fewer hours or avoiding longitudinal care because of heavy administrative burdens and better compensated opportunities in other areas of care. Patient needs have changed as well. There are increasi…
Primary care access: our veterans deserve better
…marked Remembrance Day—a time to honour veterans for their service and sacrifice. But many veterans face a new battle when they come home: trying to get basic healthcare. According to the Veterans Ombudman’s 2023-2024 annual report, veterans across Canada are struggling to find family doctors. This lack of access to primary care has been identified as one of the biggest issues veterans face today. The report revealed that without family doctors, v…
Better data, better care: Why we need to improve EMRs
…ble medical errors and even death. But this isn’t just Alberta’s problem—British Columbians are facing the same challenges. For family doctors in B.C., who provide continuous, personalized care, our system’s inability to seamlessly share patient information is a huge roadblock to quality care. Family doctors: Specialists in primary care Family doctors are specialists in primary care, serving as the first point of contact for patients and managing…
New cabinet, renewed advocacy: Putting primary care front and centre
…new cabinet last week, BC Family Doctors wasted no time ensuring family medicine remains a top priority for decision-makers in Victoria. We’ve sent letters to two key leaders: one to the new Minister of Health, Hon. Josie Osborne, and one to outgoing Health Minister Adrian Dix, now Minister of Energy and Climate Solutions. We will also be connecting with the parliamentary secretaries and opposition critics working on various heath portfolios to en…
Universal Health Coverage day
…ations increasingly enter the primary care landscape, setting up walk-in clinics, telemedicine services, and buying family medicine practices. This shift makes it harder for family doctors to deliver the kind of long-term, relationship-based care patients need. Instead, we’re seeing a rise in short-term, one-off care that doesn’t fully meet the needs of British Columbians. Corporatized healthcare raises some big concerns: • Corporate policies can…
Renew your membership
…te change. Over the years, BC Family Doctors has led changes to family physician compensation and primary care reform. We are making sure family doctors’ voices are heard and patients’ needs are met. You spoke. We listened. We delivered. In the past year, we: Convened the first-ever Issues Forum in February 2024, where participants explored conversations based on themes from our member survey. Developed our 2025 Physician Master Agreement prioriti…
We need to talk about violence against family doctors
…kplace violence in health care is a growing problem. Recent reports about rising assaults on nurses and other health care workers are alarming, and family doctors are not immune. Our recent member survey revealed that over 20 per cent of you don’t feel your workplace is free of violence, verbal abuse, and discrimination from patients and co-workers. Many others will likely have seen or experienced this firsthand over the course of your training an…
Protecting primary care: Ensuring stability for family doctors
…, strengthening health workforce recruitment and retention and reducing administrative burdens in his recent mandate letter to Health Minister Josie Osborn. Family doctors play a critical role in delivering high-quality, continuous care to British Columbians and we are pleased to see recognition of the urgent need to connect more patients with family doctors. It is crucial that the government’s commitment to reviewing all Ministry of Health progra…
Key takeaways from our meeting with Health Minister Josie Osborne
On January 28, BC Family Doctors met with the new Minister of Health, Josie Osborne, to talk about how we can continue strengthening primary care in B.C. Our president, Dr. Maryam Zeineddin, chief medical officer Dr. Renee Fernandez, and executive director Alexa Pitoulis had a productive conversation with the Minister about the challenges family doctors face and how we can work together to improve patient care. Celebrating the LFP Payment Model W…
Family doctors and specialists: Working together for better patient care
…ist Waitlist Survey from Doctors of BC and the Consultant Specialists of British Columbia confirms what family doctors already know: delays are increasing and patients are feeling the impact. That’s why we’ve written to Health Minister Josie Osborne to highlight the growing challenge of specialist wait times. We’re calling for stronger referral systems, better coordination between family doctors and specialists and the right resources to support p…
Improving new payment models for rural family doctors
B.C.’s Longitudinal Family Physician Payment Model (LFP) and Alberta’s Physician Comprehensive Care Model (PCCM) were designed to better support family doctors by reflecting the realities of modern healthcare. But these new models narrowed the financial gap between rural and urban physicians, reducing the previous pay advantage for physicians in rural and remote communities. Challenges for rural family doctors Rural incentives—such as fee premium…
How the LFP Payment Model is changing family medicine
…, leading to better patient experiences and improved health outcomes. Dr. Lilian Shyman, a family doctor in West Kelowna, has seen the difference firsthand. Since switching to LFP, she’s been able to do more preventive and proactive care, like obesity screening and medication reviews—things she rarely had time for under the old fee-for-service system. Talking about weight and medications isn’t easy, and in the past, doctors often didn’t have time…
What family doctors need from the 2025 provincial budget
…the province prepares to release the 2025 budget, family doctors across British Columbia are looking for one thing: a real commitment to sustainable, accessible primary care. The past few years have brought significant challenges and some important changes, but we are still far from ensuring that every British Columbian has access to a family doctor. Here’s what we need to see: 1. Continued investment in the Longitudinal Family Physician (LFP) Pa…
Eliminating sick notes: A necessary step for B.C.’s healthcare system
In British Columbia, requiring employees to obtain sick notes for brief absences not only burdens the healthcare system but also undermines patient care. But B.C. is not alone with this paperwork challenge. A recent CBC News article highlights the ongoing debate over the necessity of sick notes for short-term illnesses across Canada. The impact on healthcare resources Requiring sick notes for minor illnesses consumes valuable time that physicians…
Shape policy: Represent us on CHEP
…o you like to grapple with complex challenges and develop needed policy positions to chart a course for a better healthcare system? If you said ‘yes’, then we encourage you to put your name forward to be our BC Family Doctors’ representative on the Council on Health Economics and Policy (CHEP). This Doctors of BC committee assesses and develops fiscal, resource and program policies and position statements on a variety of issues. Positions open: •…
Why we need team-based care
…olution to our health human resource shortage and central to building a thriving and sustainable future for our healthcare system. Canadians want a relationship with a primary care provider who works in a team with other health professionals. That’s one of the key findings of the OurCare initiative, a national public conversation about the future of primary care in Canada. OurCare participants said that an integral part of the solution to our lack…