More than 80% of family physicians in B.C. have signed up for new payment model, health minister says

It's been one year since B.C. introduced a new payment model for family physicians in the province and the change has so far had a "profound impact," Health Minister Adrian Dix said at a news conference Friday.

Last February, a new payment plan was offered to family doctors that paid based on the time they spend with patients, the number of patient visits, the number of patients in their practice and the medical complexity of those patients. Dix said during Friday's update more than 80 per cent of family physicians in the province have signed up for the new payment model.

When the payment plan was announced in October 2022, the province said a full-time doctor would receive about $385,000 per year under the new model, up from $250,000.

Dix said the number of family physicians who are practising longitudinal family care in B.C. has risen by 708, which is an increase of 16.5 per cent.

"I think that is a success that is not only significant in terms of doctors choosing the new model … but doctors choosing to practice family medicine in the community," he said.

Dix also explained there are 237 new-to-practice doctors who have chosen family medicine, which has connected thousands of people to a care provider in the past year with those doctors still building out their capacity.

The new payment model was developed in partnership with Doctors of B.C. and is being delivered through a three-year tentative physician master agreement, which comes with a total incremental cost increase of $708 million by the end of the third year.

Around 1,000 doctors are still choosing be paid under the previous fee-for-service model, Dix said. About 220,000 people who have requested a family doctor in the province still don't have one.