PHC Med Staff

Important Dates & Review Process

• Dec 11th to March 31st, 2021: Timeframe in which physicians need to participate in COVID-19 planning activities to be eligible for this compensation, to a maximum of 20 hours in total.
• April 15, 2021:  5 pm: All claims applications are due, with an accurate accounting of costs, must be submitted to the PHC Physicians and Surgeons Society (PASS).
  • Physicians are encouraged to submit an invoice as soon as the maximum 20 hours of planning is reached, to streamline the review process. If possible, please do not wait until the deadline to submit the application if you’ve reached the 20-hour maximum prior to that time.
  • The MSA will not be reimbursing physicians who undertook COVID planning activities initiated by the MSA between July 1, 2020 and December 11, 2020

• April 22, 2021: A Collaborative Review Committee representing PHC MSA Executive, PASS Board of Directors, PHC Senior Leadership, and PHC Administration will complete their review of applications.
• April 26, 2021: PASS will communicate application decisions to all PHC physician applicants.
• April 30, 2021: PASS will submit a single consolidated list of eligible claims, on behalf of approved PHC physicians, tothe Facility Engagement Team at Doctors of BC; Medical Affairs to submit invoice to MOH for reimbursement.
• June, 2021: Doctors of BC (DOBC) will review our submitted list of claims and respond to us. Once we are notified of the date of payment, we will inform all PHC physicians. PHC will pay their portion of the reimbursement directly to physicians.

FAQ

Ministry of Health payments for physician planning time in response to COVID-19

1. What type of planning activities are eligible for reimbursement?

• Meetings and related planning work (including development of plan, protocol, or model) must be about service delivery planning, re-design and implementation related to provision of patient care at a community, facility, regional and/or provincial level in response to COVID-19; AND
• The planning work is extraordinary, and goes beyond usual department, division or MSA meetings –planning for physician’s offices and patients will be not remunerated; AND
• Physicians actively participate in meetings & planning work initiated through MSAs and the health authority (PHC) that are directly related to supporting the management of the MoH’s COVID-19 Health Sector Plan for Fall/Winter 2020-21- payment will not be provided for passive attendance at meetings; AND
• Physicians’ active participation in meetings & planning work must be verified (with signature) by a division head or department head. Eligible department heads will need a signature from PHC VP, Medical Affairs. Excluded activities: The planning work is extraordinary, and goes beyond usual department, division or MSA meetings –planning for physician’s offices and patients, Town Halls and routine meetings will be not remunerated. Examples of meeting that are not considered extraordinary are:
  • Work falling within the usual scope of a physician leadership role (unless the work exceeds allocated time commitment)
  • Work otherwise compensated through the HA/PHC (e.g., work paid under contract or significant leadership stipend).
  • Physician learning opportunities (e.g., physicians learning how to support patients and staff during COVID-19)
  • MSA Quarterly meetings
  • PASS Working Group or Subcommittee meetings
  • Strategic Pillar Physician Advisory Committee Meetings
  • MSA, PHC Townhalls, routine Department/Divisions meetings, webinars
  • Participation in Simulations. Note: Simulation planning is eligible for funding (see below).
  • Independent Research relating to COVID-19 planning
  • Quarterly meetings or routine meetings (e.g., EOC meetings, CLT meetings)
  • Meetings focused on providing information updates or discussing research
  • Planning specific to private practice
  • Webinar moderation
  • “Touching base” or emailing
  • Work unrelated COVID-19 (e.g., urinary retention)

Eligible activities – Planning Activities, including but not limited to:

• • Simulation planning & protocol development (unless otherwise compensated through PASS)
  • Regional & provincial planning meetings re: COVID-19 recovery

Approval guidelines

An application, in general, will not be approved if:

• It does not contain sufficient information to clearly demonstrate a physician’s role in active planning;
• It does not clearly demonstrate that the activity described is a planning activity;
• A claim is submitted for webinar moderation
• The applicant, overall, did not provide enough information in their application.
• The applicant had billed for claimed services under a contractor significant leadership stipend;
• The activity submitted was for routine or regular meetings or non-COVID specific meetings;

Application Criteria

• Clinical fellows are not eligible for pandemic planning payments under this initiative
• Applications must be verified (with signature) by a division head or department head. Eligible departmentheads will need a signature from PHC VP, Medical Affairs.
• Applications that do not contain sufficient information to assess eligibility will not be approved

2. What are some examples of eligible claims?

Examples of eligible planning activities:

• Development of a mathematical model to predict coronavirus admissions to PHC sites to inform operational decision making and rapid change.
• Development of a simulation plan and protocols to prepare front line staff for the effective use of PPE to minimize risk of COVID-19 transmission during peak transmission times.
• Creation of a proactive plan to implement expedited front line staff deployment to high priority clinical areas in the event of a second wave of the coronavirus.
• Space planning – Optimizing the use of existing PHC spaces to meet the care needs of patients with coronavirus and minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission.

3. How is active participation defined?

Active participation at meetings is where attendees have directly contributed to service delivery planning, re-design and implementation. For example, attendance at meetings such as Town Halls and information webinars do not qualify for compensation under these guidelines.

Examples of language indicating active participation (approved if other criteria are met):

• Lead / chair / moderate / plan / implement / create / develop
• Organize / coordinate / schedule / reschedule
• Liaise / communicate / educate / present / evaluate / consult / advise / input / feedback
• For Physician Lead Roles Only: Share / update / review / discuss

Examples of language indicating passive participation (not approved):

• Represent / attend / participant / update

4. Can a PHC physician claim be reimbursed through the Ministry of Health (MoH) for 20 hours of planning time from each of the health authority (HA), MSA, and/or Division of Family Practice (DOFP) he/she is affiliated with?

No. A physician will be reimbursed for a maximum of 20 hours in total, no matter how many organizations they are invoicing. For example, if a physician submits claims to their MSA and health authority that totals more than 20 hours, only 20 hours will be reimbursed by the MoH.It is the physician’s responsibility to ensure that they submit invoices only up to a total of 20 hours combined across all pandemic planning activities. After all submissions are received by Doctors of BC, a cross reference between MSA and DOFP invoices will be carried out to ensure the maximum number of hours has not been exceeded by any physician. The Ministry of Health will be reconciling funding by individual physician and any inadvertent overpayments under this funding initiative will be recovered.

5. What consultation occurred to arrive at this compensation model? 

Since the pandemic started, physicians have been working hard to actively plan and deliver patient care in their communities and facilities in order to successfully meet their patients’ most pressing medical needs. As we move into the fall and winter, Doctors of BC recognized that new challenges would arise. In response to these evolving challenges, Doctors of BC has been working and advocating on physicians’ behalf, through the Joint Collaborative Committees and directly with the Ministry of Health, to provide necessary supports to enable physicians to continue to provide patients with quality care.

6. Are these funds in addition to those made available earlier this year? 

Yes, the maximum of 20 hours per physician in total that physicians can be reimbursed for are an additional, one- time compensation for physicians to continue active participation in planning activities initiated through MSAs. The timeframe for these active planning funds is December 11th, 2020 and March 31st, 2021. Retroactive payments for active planning that occurred prior to December 11th, 2020 are not eligible for these funds.

7. Can MoH reimbursement be made available for eligible physicians’ COVID planning activities that occurred between July 1, 2020 and December 11, 2020?

No. The MSA will not be reimbursing physicians who undertook COVID planning activities initiated by the MSA between July 1, 2020 and December 11, 2020.

8. What if a physician has previously been approved for or received COVID-19 project funding through PASS Facility Engagement? 

There physicians are not eligible for this second round of MOH reimbursements for planning time related to their approved Facility Engagement (FE) project, if they have already received or been approved for MOH planning funds related to their FE project during the first round of physician payments (March 15 to June 30 2020 planning activity timeframe).

Reimbursement

For MSA Initiated Planning Activities

PASS will receive a lump sum electronic fund transfer into FEMS (Facility Engagement Management System) after their consolidated invoice has been reviewed by Doctors of BC. Once the EFT is received by PASS, physicians will be provided with details about how their respective reimbursements will be distributed.

For Health Authority/PHC Initiated Planning Activities

PHC will compensate either directly through your existing vendor account, or through group payment to your division/call group if you don’t already have a vendor account.

More Questions? Contact pass@providencehealth.bc.ca>