UPDATE: On Dec. 30, 2021, Minister Copping announced expanded funding for virtual care to include one complex care time code. This is helpful, but still clearly under-values family doctors' time spent in complex virtual care.
Welcome to fundvirtualcare.ca / extendthecodes.ca. Help us advocate for excellent patient care and stable medical practices by asking Alberta Health to fully fund virtual complex care by family doctors and other physicians.
Why should Alberta Health fully #fundvirtualcare?
1
Alberta Health has already recognized that patient care sometimes is quite complex and has created fee codes to pay physicians extra when they spend more time with a complex patient during in-person visits.
2
It's been shown that when family docs spend extra time with patients who need it, those patients overall get better care and are less likely to end up in hospital.
3
This kind of complex care by family docs and other physicians is not only great for patients, it saves Alberta Health lots of money.
4
During the pandemic, family docs and other physicians are doing what they can to provide virtual care to patients, to decrease their covid exposure risk. Alberta Health wants doctors to do this.
5
Alberta Health (the Government) has activated fee codes for virtual care by family docs and other physicians BUT they are paid at a lesser rate than in-person codes.
If your family doc spends 20 minutes on your care when you see them in person, your family doc gets paid $55.61.
20 minutes of virtual care? They only get paid $38.03. That's a 32% pay cut.
It gets worse:
If your family doc spends 40 minutes on your care when you see them in person, your family doc gets paid $93.47.
40 minutes of virtual care? They still only get paid $38.03 - that's a 59% pay cut.
It gets even worse again:
If your family doc spends 60 minutes on your care when you see them in person, your family doc gets paid $130.43.
60 minutes of virtual care? They STILL only get paid $38.03 - a 71% pay cut.
6
Your family doc still has to pay for staff, rent and other expenses whether your care is virtual or in-person. They have the same costs.
How can your family doc pay their staff and bills when their complex care pay is getting cut by 32-71%?
They can't.
The bottom line is Alberta Health is paying 32-71% LESS for the same money-saving care by family docs and other physicians because it is virtual instead of in-person. There is no good reason for this difference.
We're not asking Alberta Health to pay more, but to pay the same rate as in-person care.
Not paying the same isn't only unfair, it risks the ability of family docs and other physicians to employ their staff and stay in practice. Not paying the same rate will also cost the system more when family docs have to give up doing complex care virtually.
How you can make your voice heard on this:
1
Contact your MLA and let them know you want to stabilize family medicine care and Alberta Health's budget by extending the complex care codes to virtual care. Go to this Elections Alberta link to find out who your MLA is and their contact information: https://streetkey.elections.ab.ca/.
2
Contact the Honourable Jason Copping, Minister of Health to let him know you want to stabilize family medicine and Alberta Health's budget by extending the complex care codes to virtual care.
email him here: health.minister@gov.ab.ca
phone his office at this number: 780-427-3665
3
Once you've emailed (and phoned) his office, please Tweet about this issue. Please ensure you tag @JasonCoppingAB and use #ableg and #fundvirtualcare in your tweet.
4
Build family, friend and community awareness about this issue. This is serious. Our health system is at tremendous risk if family docs can't provide complex care and can't afford to keep their practices open. We should be doing all we can to support community-based family docs. The decision by Alberta Health and Minister Shandro to withhold complex care codes from fee-for-service family docs is directly injuring our health system and any of us who have any type or combination of complex medical issues.
5
Call the media, write letters, do whatever you can to bring attention to this issue and help save Alberta's family medicine practices from going under. Help Alberta fully #fundvirtualcare. All Alberta Health has to do is #extendthecodes and it will save lives, help patients get better outcomes, and save the government money.
COMPLEX CARE BY FAMILY DOCS SAVES LIVES, HEALTH AND MONEY
#FUNDVIRTUALCARE
#EXTENDTHECODES